Why Michigan’s wastewater is being used to detect COVID-19 outbreaks – Detroit News
Statewide wastewater surveillance networks that sprang up during the pandemic were able to forecast this month’s increase in COVID-19 infections in Michigan and could play a significant role in predicting future outbreaks — or identifying new pathogens that have not yet emerged.
Wastewater previously was rarely monitored for evidence of pathogens such as the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19, experts said. But the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now tracks the presence of the virus’s genetic material in wastewater at thousands of testing sites across the country.
