Missouri uses wastewater to track the spread of delta variants

The delta variant, which first appeared in India last fall, now accounts for about 10% of new virus cases in the United States, according to estimates by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and has hit a small rural town in Missouri in particular. I’m giving.

Missouri officials have been tracking COVID-19 and its variants since February by testing wastewater samples from more than 50 communities throughout the state. Sewer monitoring project.

This initiative is a collaboration between the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and the University of Missouri.

The Delta variant first appeared on May 10 in a wastewater sample in the town of Branson. By the following week, it had appeared in a town-wide wastewater treatment plant and in Brookfield’s community and licking about 230 miles away.

Linn County, including Brookfield, was not ready to “surge” in urban spikes and COVID-19 cases, according to Mark Johnson, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the University of Missouri.

“At the end of April, [Linn County] Since the number of cases was very small, we stopped updating the COVID. They stopped reporting it because they were like a couple of cases a week. Approximately 400 infections have been identified since the detection, “Johnson told ABC News based on data from the Linn County Health Department.

“This is 12,000 counties, which is about 5% of the population in the last six weeks,” he added.

Wastewater tests have shown that the Alpha COVID variant has become established in large cities in early spring. By May, the Delta variant was taken over.

“It was faster than Alpha. In reality, Delta took only three weeks. Seeing that, it was present in most of the samples we collected after two samplings,” Johnson said.

And the existence of COVID-19 in wastewater is spreading. According to data from the Sewershed Surveillance Project, viral load has increased by more than 40% since last week.

Missouri had the highest proportion of delta variants nationwide as of June 5, accounting for 21.9% of reported cases. CDC..

Many cities with increased viral load include rural areas such as Brookfield, St. Joseph, Warrensburg, and Joplin. These areas are already working on low immunization rates.

In Missouri, 43.7% of the population has taken at least one shot and 38% have completed the series. State Department Data Show..

So how does this wastewater testing process work?

Chung-Ho Lin, an associate professor of research at the Center for Agriculture and Forestry, a bioremediation program at the University of Missouri, said his laboratory, which monitors human pathogens in wastewater, collaborated with Johnson’s laboratory to analyze wastewater samples and COVID. -19 (New coronavirus infection. Scientists use a process called the quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction to distinguish variants.

According to Lin, viral load appears in wastewater “as seven days before the outbreak.”

“Since May last year, we’ve processed about 9,000 samples across the state,” says Lin. “We cover about 125 facilities, including urban sewage treatment facilities, wastewater treatment of mental health facilities, universities, elderly housing with care, training camps, etc. Therefore, basically covering almost 70% of the population of Mizuria. doing.”

Researchers warn state health professionals so they can manage resources and control outbreaks.

“I think we have successfully prevented some outbreaks in correctional facilities,” Lynn said. “From the data we generate, we are confident that someone can benefit from that number the next day.”

John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and professor at Harvard Medical School, a contributor to ABC News, said wastewater monitoring has many benefits, including providing an early warning sign for COVID-19 without violating privacy concerns. Said there is. It is gaining popularity among the state health sector.

“Wastewater monitoring allows you to target at very high resolutions. In fact, you can do more sophisticated targeting and public health efforts. Prisons, nursing homes and schools are great examples. “He said.

Delta variants are a growing concern in the United States and were upgraded by the CDC last week from “Variants of Interest” to “Variants of Concern.”

State officials are now urging the public to be vaccinated.

“Vaccination is always better than not. Vaccines have at least some effectiveness against all variants. If anything, that should be the reason for vaccination. That’s what Johnson said.