Montana State University researchers show wastewater can help monitor, manage coronavirus

A team lead by MSU scientist Blake Wiedenheft was able to detect the novel coronavirus in samples taken at Bozeman's Water Reclamation Facility, which handles millions of gallons of wastewater produced each day by the city's roughly 50,000 residents. Seven sewage samples, taken during a 17-day period in March and April, revealed levels of the virus that tracked with a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases reported in the Bozeman area and then declined after state-mandated social distancing. That suggests that the wastewater measurements are a reliable indicator of the local prevalence of the disease, Wiedenheft said.

Because it's thought that individuals can be sick with COVID-19 and spread the disease for up to two weeks before showing symptoms, being able to detect increased levels of the virus in wastewater could help health officials make decisions about social distancing and other containment measures before a tide of sickened patients arrive at hospitals seeking testing and medical treatment, Wiedenheft noted.

At the end of April, Gallatin County — including Bozeman — had reported a total of 146 COVID-19 cases, suggesting that the MSU team's tests detected virus molecules from a relatively small number of infected individuals.

Read the full story from MSU here.