Wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 across 40 U.S. states from February to June 2020
Water Research - Fuqing Wu, Amy Xiao, et al.
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Wastewater-based epidemiology is a promising approach for proactive outbreak monitoring.
Wastewater epidemiology was first pioneered in Israel, Europe, and Australia by various academic research collaborations and has been demonstrated as an early warning system for poliovirus. Currently, the most well-known group is the European SCORE network, which is sponsored by the European Union to measure country-level drug consumption across the EU. Developed in the United States at MIT, our methods build on top of this body of work allowing this technology to be commercialized for the first time. Our Co-founder and CEO developed this scientific innovation during her PhD work at MIT, and is one of a few experts in the United States in this scientific field.
Our system differs from prior work in three important ways:
Sub-city level geographic resolution
We collect our samples at manholes in the city and wastewater treatment facilities. This approach enables direct measurement of metabolites, viruses, and bacteria excreted by humans.
Near-real time
We're built to deliver results in a 3-day turnaround time. This is possible because we are dedicated full-time to delivering an efficient service through automation technology.
Chemical and biological capabilities
Our system can measure drug consumption, infectious disease outbreaks, antibiotic resistance, nutrition, and exposure to environmental contaminants in populations creating a holistic early warning system for public health crises.
