Egypt's FEC, TRAIN partner to support food exporters    Spot Gold, futures slips on Thursday, July 17th    Egypt's EHA, Huawei discuss enhanced digital health    Egypt expresses condolences to Iraq over fire tragedy    Egypt, Oman discuss environmental cooperation    Egypt's Environment Minister attends AMCEN conference in Nairobi    At London 'Egypt Day', Finance Minister outlines pro-investment policies    Sukari Gold Mine showcases successful public–private partnership: Minister of Petroleum    Egypt's FRA chief vows to reform business environment to boost investor confidence    Egyptian, Belarusian officials discuss drug registration, market access    Syria says it will defend its territory after Israeli strikes in Suwayda    Pakistan names Qatari royal as brand ambassador after 'Killer Mountain' climb    Health Ministry denies claims of meningitis-related deaths among siblings    Sri Lanka's expat remittances up in June '25    EU–US trade talks enter 'decisive phase', German politician says    Egypt's Health Min. discusses drug localisation with Sandoz    Needle-spiking attacks in France prompt government warning, public fear    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Korea Culture Week in Egypt to blend K-Pop with traditional arts    Egypt, France FMs review Gaza ceasefire efforts, reconstruction    CIB finances Giza Pyramids Sound and Light Show redevelopment with EGP 963m loan    Greco-Roman tombs with hieroglyphic inscriptions discovered in Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    Egypt's Democratic Generation Party Evaluates 84 Candidates Ahead of Parliamentary Vote    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Cabinet approves establishment of national medical tourism council to boost healthcare sector    Egypt's PM follows up on Julius Nyerere dam project in Tanzania    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



COVID-19 spread can be tracked via rapid, large-scale wastewater surveillance system
New system identifies buildings where new COVID-19 cases have emerged, even before infected people develop symptoms
Published in Daily News Egypt on 03 - 03 - 2021

Detecting outbreaks of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) before they spread could help contain the virus, and curb new cases within a community.
In a new paper published in the open-access Journal of the American Society for Microbiology, University of California San Diego (UCSD), researchers described a mostly-automated early alert tracking system that uses high-throughput analysis of wastewater samples.
These samples were used to identify buildings where new COVID-19 cases have emerged, even before infected people develop symptoms.
The approach is fast, cost-effective, and sensitive enough to detect a single case of COVID-19 in a building that houses nearly 500 people, according to UCSD environmental engineer and first author Smruthi Karthikeyan, PhD, who led the design of the system.
"It really lets us get a handle on new outbreaks before they get worse," she said.
Previous studies have shown that analysing viral concentrations in sewage can accurately predict trends in clinical diagnoses up to a week in advance. However, conventional approaches to wastewater surveillance are laborious and time-consuming, Karthikeyan noted.
To get around these bottlenecks, she said, the UCSD team designed a system from scratch that automates most of the analysis. Automation makes it possible to get results quickly, and the system is already watching for community outbreaks in San Diego, Karthikeyan said.
Every morning by 10:30, UCSD researchers collect wastewater samples from nearly 100 stations, representing every building on campus and a local hospital.
Back at the lab, a robotic platform can process 24 samples in just 40 minutes. Then an automated, high-throughput tool extracts RNA from the samples and uses PCR to search for three tell-tale genes associated with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).
If the sequencing reveals all three genes, the sample is classified as positive. By early afternoon, the researchers can update the data on an online dashboard that shows where new cases have emerged.
Such a surveillance system is only useful if it has a quick turnaround time, Karthikeyan said, and "there's no way we could get all those samples done on the same day unless we automated". Because every step is automated, she said, the process is not vulnerable to human error.
A positive test also triggers an alert that is sent to residents of the building where the sample was collected, and they test themselves using kits from a vending machine.
People who then test positive are quarantined, and the process is repeated, said Karthikeyan, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of microbiologist Rob Knight, PhD, whose research uses computational techniques to study the ecosystems of the body.
After a pilot experiment showed that the system reliably reported new cases in individual buildings, the group scaled up and began surveillance of the more than 2 million people in San Diego.
"Southern California has a lot of cases, and we're bound to see it in the sewage," said Karthikeyan.
In the post-pandemic future, Karthikeyan predicted a cost-effective and fast surveillance system could be particularly useful in tracking viral outbreaks in vulnerable communities with limited access to healthcare.


Clic here to read the story from its source.