One way scientists are tracking COVID patterns is via the wastewater system: following what goes down household drains and collects in sewers. Now, researchers from the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have joined a consortium receiving new funding to track and detect COVID variants in wastewater sampled at treatment plants, according to the organization. The analysis reportedly could offer early detection of new variants.
According to Argonne, the funding will allow researchers to build on a prototype sampling network set up in 2021. They will work with the Chicago Department of Public Health to discover, and ideally trace, how different strains of the COVID virus travel through different communities. While the network has been set up to detect COVID, it may be used to uncover a wide range of infectious diseases in the future.
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