Researchers at 国民彩票 have helped in the development of a rapid test to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater -- an unexpected resource that is becoming a valuable sentinel in the global fight to contain the virus before it is able to spread.
Amina Stoddart,听an assistant professor in the Department of听Civil and Resource Engineering, is leading a project听with colleagues Graham Gagnon and Rob Jamieson听to develop a wastewater-based surveillance approach for听COVID-19.
They are working with Halifax Water and LuminUltra听Technologies, a Canadian biotechnology company which recently filed a patent for the first complete rapid, on-site COVID-19 wastewater testing solution.
Central to the approach is the idea that wastewater could alert officials to the presence of the virus either before someone develops symptoms or receives a positive test result or if they are asymptomatic.
鈥淲astewater testing has been shown to lead to early identification of the virus before it is known in a clinical context 鈥� the potential benefit could help Public Health leaders with additional information for decisions concerning the pandemic,鈥� said Dr. Stoddart.
鈥淧ublic health leaders around the world have validated that wastewater testing is a powerful tool in the fight against the pandemic, and global research leaders have demonstrated the benefits of testing human waste in controlled populations. We are very pleased to continue 国民彩票鈥檚 long-standing research relationship with LuminUltra to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic in Halifax and beyond.鈥�
SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected in waste
The听genetic code,听or RNA,听from听SARS-CoV-2 has been听found听in听the听feces of听people听infected听with the virus听and听it is known that听the particles survive longer in the gastrointestinal tract than in the respiratory tract.听Because of that, wastewater may be monitored for SARS-CoV-2 to determine the prevalence of COVID-19 infections in a given population.
In听Spain, for example, researchers听detected COVID-19 in 83 per cent of untreated wastewater samples听before听initial cases were reported in the region.
Ultimately, the innovation in the RNA extraction and concentration process resulting from the team�