Last year, many of us watched the Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Paris. Like me, you might have focused on Simone Biles winning even more Olympic medals. The Olympians weren’t the only people at work, though. A seemingly unexpected group --scientists-- were monitoring wastewater from these mass gatherings in Paris.
Dr. Laila Toro and colleagues in France and Canada sought to identify priority pathogens to test in sewage samples. Why look there? As it turns out, wastewater can be used as an early detection system for a variety of pathogen outbreaks.
Depending on the infectious agent, people might shed the pathogen when using the bathroom or even just washing their hands. Especially in mass gatherings, testing untreated wastewater in the lab for specific disease-causing viruses and bacteria, can identify potential outbreaks.
The scientists decided on six pathogens to test for based off of their feasibility, relevance, and added value to public health decision-making. These were poliovirus, influenza A and B, mpox, SARS-CoV-2, and measles. To channel the well-known adage: one man’s waste, might just be a scientist’s treasure.
This has been an outreach activity of the Las Cruces Academy, created by Elizabeth Paul, a student physician at the Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11241851/#abstract1
