Testing campus wastewater for Covid-19 virus

Sewage testing has been used in the U.S. for detection of other diseases in the past, such as polio. Since about 80% of households are connected to a central sewerage collection, in this time of pandemic it is reasonable to conduct sewage surveillance in order to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes Covid-19 illness. The virus is shed in the feces of individuals even before they start showing symptoms. 

A student worker is collecting a sewage sample on the OU campus to test for the coronavirus.

Dr. Jason Vogel, a WaTER Center co-director and Director of the Oklahoma Water Survey, has been collecting sewage samples on the University of Oklahoma (OU) campus for early detection of the virus. The samples are collected downstream of campus student housing during after-lunch hours (12 noon to 2 pm) when the wastewater flow rate is highest. 

Student workers collecting sewage samples follow strict health and safety protocols so that they themselves will not get infected.

OU microbiologist Associate Professor, Bradley Stevenson, is heading the program and studies of the samples, which typically have a 24-hour turnaround time. Dr. Stevenson says that “this (method) definitely can be an early warning....What we’re doing is actually monitoring the levels of COVID-19 in the wastewater,” Stevenson said. “When an individual has COVID-19, they shed the virus through their feces and we can actually detect that.” This is a method that can both show trends over time and provide an early warning system, about 3-7 days prior to a normal detection protocol using onset of symptoms. In addition, the RNA laboratory testing is a non-invasive form of detection as compared to clinical testing.