Bio-Rad Reads: Wastewater November Edition

Welcome to our first edition of Bio-Rad Reads! This monthly newsletter was created to bring the latest news and information about wastewater testing directly to you through the LinkedIn newsletter feature. From COVID-19 to polio, wastewater testing is becoming a more prevalent method in research and surveillance aimed at decreasing the spread of infectious diseases within our communities.

This newsletter includes:

• An article from Nature discussing the real-life benefits of wastewater surveillance
• A Q&A with Colleen Naughton, E.I., PhD , a researcher in wastewater epidemiology and the founder and manager of the @CovidPoops19 Twitter account
• A blog on how ddPCR technology's early detection capabilities can help curb the spread of disease

Heavily mutated SARS-CoV-2 variants–especially Omicron strains–have the potential to spread rapidly or cause severe symptoms. Researchers used wastewater surveillance to narrow down the origin of one such “cryptic strain” to an office of just 30 people in Wisconsin. If they can identify the infected individual, scientists can not only treat them and prevent the strain from spreading but also learn more about how these new strains arise.

Colleen Naughton, E.I., PhD , is an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Merced. In addition to her ongoing research in wastewater-based epidemiology, she is a founder and manager of the?@CovidPoops19 Twitter account?which curates news and insights related to wastewater & SARS-CoV-2, as well as aggregating data in a global dashboard. Learn more about Naughton's perspective on wastewater testing and data in this Q&A.

What made you decide to start and maintain the @COVIDPoops19 Twitter account and dashboard?

I found Twitter really useful when I started conducting wastewater and COVID-19 research so I thought it would be great to have all the COVID-19, wastewater, and SARS-CoV-2-related tweets (news articles, publications, public health department announcements, webinar announcements, etc.) in one place. I did not see that anyone had created this type of account so I decided to create one.?

Your Twitter account and dashboard have a strong global focus. Is the field of wastewater-based epidemiology particularly well-suited to international collaboration?

Yes, wastewater-based epidemiology is definitely well-suited to international collaboration since "everybody poops." The COVID-19 pandemic has been extremely difficult but it has been inspiring to see researchers, public health experts, and municipalities come together to do what they can during this time.?

Do you think the pandemic has increased awareness of wastewater testing as a public health tool?

The COVID-19 pandemic certainly has increased the awareness of wastewater testing. There have been so many news articles about it and I've never seen wastewater make the front page so many times even in the New York Times as well as local newspapers. You even see governors, mayors, and senators tweeting and giving speeches about it.?

Only the most accurate methods can detect early signs of infectious disease outbreaks in wastewater. Bio-Rad’s highly-sensitive PCR technology makes it possible to identify the smallest traces of pathogens–including SARS-CoV-2–at concentrations too low for qPCR technology to detect and identify new variants.

Read?this blog post?to learn how ddPCR technology can help curb the spread of disease with its early detection capabilities.