SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater
In this project, we apply wastewater-based epidemiology to track the dynamics of the COVID-19 outbreak. SARS-CoV-2 is shed in the feces of infected persons. Tracking SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater can inform on outbreak dynamics as well as on the presence of variants of concern. Using daily samples from six wastewater treatment plants, which jointly capture > 900’000 people, we monitor the dynamics of the COVID-19 outbreak in Switzerland. Our data will allow policy makers to quickly adapt public health mitigation strategies based on disease trajectory, potentially saving lives, and allow an earlier return to normalcy.
We currently monitor SARS-CoV-2 in the wastewater of 6 treatment plants across Switzerland. You can find the data for STEP de Vidy here and a summary over all the treatment plants here.
More information about this project can be found here.
Collaborators: Christoph Ort, Tim Julian, Christa McArdell (Eawag); Gilbert Greub (CHUV), Tanja Stadler (ETHZ), Niko Beerenwinkel (ETHZ)
Funding: Swiss National Science Foundation, OFEV, OFSP, EPFL, Eawag