The UK’s sewage may be screened for the presence of the Covid-19 coronavirus under new government plans aimed at prevented future outbreaks.
A government spokesperson told Politico: “We are actively engaging with the research community and government scientific advisers to investigate whether monitoring waste water could be used as a way of tracking the prevalence of the virus.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
How does it work?
Scientists can estimate local concentrations of the virus by testing for genetic residues found in waste water.
A recent study by researchers from Sorbonne University and Paris water authority Eau de Paris found that monitoring of waste water “may provide an alternative and possibly early tool to detect pathogens in populations when investigations in humans is difficult for logistic, ethical or economic reasons”.
How effective is this method?
More than a dozen research groups worldwide are now analysing waste water for the new coronavirus, says Nature magazine.
Experts say that this screening method could provide better estimates for the scale and spread of the coronavirus than standard testing, with typical treatment plants each capturing waste water from more than a million people.
Studies have also shown that the new coronavirus, Sars-CoV-2, can appear in faeces within three days of infection -whereas symptoms serious enough to send people to hospital can take two weeks to develop, says Tamar Kohn, an environmental virologist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.
“Seven to ten days can make a lot of difference in the severity of this outbreak,” Kohn told Nature.
Could sewage spread coronavirus?
“The World Health Organization is clear there is currently no evidence that coronavirus has been transmitted via sewerage systems,” a UK government spokesperson said.
However, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that the possibility of such transmission cannot be ruled out.
“Researchers do not know whether this virus can cause disease if a person is exposed to untreated waste water or sewerage systems,” says the CDC website.
-
Groypers: the alt-right group pulled into the foregroundThe Explainer The network is led by alt-right activist Nick Fuentes
-
10 concert tours to see this upcoming fallThe Week Recommends Concert tour season isn't over. Check out these headliners.
-
How to put student loan payments on pauseThe Explainer If you are starting to worry about missing payments, deferment and forbearance can help
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across SyriaTHE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weaponsThe Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarrayIn the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
