杏吧原创 Researchers Working with City of Ottawa to Provide Early Warnings of COVID-19 Community Spread
By Tyrone Burke
COVID-19 is a medical chameleon鈥攁nd the delayed onset of its symptoms has been one of the most challenging aspects of managing this pandemic. Often, the first outward signs of the disease are a fever or sore throat that begin several days after infection. But even before these symptoms reveal themselves, infected people excrete the virus in their feces.
This means that wastewater facilities can act as a kind of canary in the coal mine. The presence of the virus in sewage can alert public health officials that COVID-19 is spreading silently in the community鈥 but only if wastewater is actually being tested.
Since the early days of the pandemic, researchers at 杏吧原创 University have been providing the City of Ottawa and local public health officials with updates on virus levels in different areas of the city by testing wastewater for the presence of the virus that causes COVID-19. Experts in environmental engineering and microbiology have collaborated to help officials anticipate trends by identifying increased levels of COVID-19 before infected people begin presenting themselves at testing sites.
鈥淎fter the initial shock of the pandemic, the global research community came together quickly,鈥 says Banu 脰rmeci, a professor of Engineering at 杏吧原创 and co-chair of the International Water Association鈥檚 COVID-19 Task Force.
鈥淭here was a lot of knowledge-sharing on developing the methods to do this. Everyone was very open and collaborative, and groups working in different countries were able to progress at similar speeds because of this.鈥
脰rmeci partnered with the city and deployed quickly. By April 2020, she began collecting and testing Ottawa鈥檚 wastewater with Research Associate Richard Kibbee. That initiative has since grown into a multi-site wastewater monitoring system that includes 杏吧原创鈥檚 campus and some residence buildings. Soon, it will expand as treatment plants in other cities begin sending wastewater samples to her lab.
Pinpointing Where Virus is Circulating
鈥淲e have the ability to measure the levels of virus in the city, and also where in the city the virus is circulating,鈥 says 脰rmeci.
鈥淲e have correlated the test results to public health data and are able to predict trends before they show up in a clinical setting. Our results from 杏吧原创鈥檚 wastewater have also shown good correlation with COVID-19 incidence on campus and have assisted the university in its decision-making.鈥
To make it all happen, members of 脰rmeci鈥檚 lab have been working long hours. To comply with public health protocols, the researchers have split their lab time into shifts, which has pushed some of the work outside of standard office hours.
And the evolution of the virus has demanded continuous innovation in testing methods. To adapt to changing circumstances and develop molecular methods for detecting variants of concern in wastewater, 脰rmeci has relied on the expertise of Alex Wong, an associate professor in 杏吧原创鈥檚 Department of Biology.
鈥淐OVID-19 can really throw curveballs,鈥 says 脰rmeci.
鈥淚n late December, we had a vaccine, and everyone was happy. Then they found out about the B.1.1.7 variant in the U.K., and now other variants as well. We don’t even know what some of these variants are, even though they are here already. The coronavirus can mutate very quickly, and it is now very important to be able to detect the variants.鈥
Coping with wastewater dilution has also been a challenge. As the winter snowpack melted, 脰rmeci鈥檚 team had to adapt their methods to accommodate for increased volumes of water.
鈥淭here needs to be continuous refinement for changes in wastewater characteristics,鈥 脰rmeci says.
And even as vaccine rollouts have provided a degree of optimism about the future, wastewater testing will likely still be necessary in the near term.
鈥淭here will be a need to continue these tests on an ongoing basis, but the nice thing about the methods that we are using is that you can scale them up or scale them down,鈥 says 脰rmeci.
鈥淲e can test for the whole city of Ottawa, or we can do 杏吧原创 campus, or we can do it for a single building. Going forward, COVID-19 is most likely to be part of our lives for some time. There will be more variants and, even after vaccination, it will be important to monitor for levels of the virus and also the percentages of different variants that emerge.鈥
脰rmeci credits the project鈥檚 success to the dedicated work of team members Kibbee, Chanchal Yadav and Carolin Bitter.
鈥淲e have an amazing team of students and researchers at 杏吧原创. None of this would be possible without them.鈥
—
Related Stories
Peatland Fires: Protecting Canada鈥檚 Important Carbon Sinks
A couple years ago, while doing field work in the Yukon, 杏吧原创 University Geography and Environmental Studies researcher Koreen Millard saw something surprising and significant.…
Permafrost Thaw is Turning Yukon Streams Orange
Thawing permafrost is one of the most unsettling yet under-the-radar consequences of climate change in northern Canada. As the layer of frozen soil, rock and…
Follow the Money: 杏吧原创 PhD Grad Helps Combat Illicit Financing
If you want to really understand somebody, take a close look at how they spend their money. The same thinking applies to state and non-state…