[ad_1]
LANSING, Michigan (WJRT) – Michigan health officials are looking to an unlikely place for signs of a COVID-19 outbreak: your sewage.
Two Michigan departments are launching the COVID-19 wastewater monitoring pilot project to monitor water flushed down toilets and washed down sewers for the presence of coronavirus. They hope to provide advance notice of COVID-19 outbreaks to health officials and hospitals.
The project is a collaboration between the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the Michigan Department of the Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, 29 health departments, 19 laboratories and 135 other organizations across the state.
Health officials say the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is widespread in feces and can be detected in sewage for up to a week before the disease manifests itself with symptoms. Michigan’s contact tracing efforts are limited during the current coronavirus outbreak, so wastewater testing may provide an early warning of disease clusters.
Local healthcare providers and public health officials could use early warnings of a possible COVID-19 outbreak to adjust testing efforts and prepare for an influx of patients earlier. Long-term care facilities can use wastewater analysis to better understand the spread of disease among their residents.
Sewage testing will begin soon at 270 undisclosed test sites in 37 of Michigan’s 83 counties. The sites include long-term care facilities, colleges, schools, laboratories, prisons, and municipal wastewater treatment plants.
Results will be posted on the Michigan website when available.
Copyright 2020 WJRT. All rights reserved.
[ad_2]
Source link