Public health officials monitor sewage in local communities to track COVID, polio, flu and more. But no one asks the people being monitored for their permission – raising some questions and concerns.
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Articles on Sewage surveillance
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Over 800 sites across the US report coronavirus data from sewage to the CDC. Here’s how this kind of surveillance system works and what it can and can’t tell you.
If you live in an area where virus fragments have been found in wastewater samples, the most important thing to do is follow your state health department’s advice.
A community’s wastewater can predict coronavirus cases that haven’t yet been diagnosed. The quicker that information is known, the better.
Identifying the emergence of a disease often relies on sick people seeking medical help. Wastewater monitoring can identify pathogens days or weeks earlier.
Sewage surveillance is one technique that can alert authorities to the presence of a pathogen in the community. An environmental engineer explains the state of the science when it comes to SARS-CoV-2.
Top contributors
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Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering, University of Notre Dame
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Professor, food safety, University of Guelph
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Associate Professor, University of South Australia
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Postdoctoral Research Associate in Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego
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Professor of Pediatrics and Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego
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Professor of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University
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Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University
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Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Louisville
