Centre planning to test sewage water for COVID-19 virus load

The department of biotechnology has drawn up a detailed sewage surveillance plan. This plan will be rolled out through the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), a network of 35 genome sequencing laboratories.

Nidhi Sharma
  • Updated On Oct 4, 2021 at 02:53 PM IST
In a bid to detect a Covid-19 outbreak in densely populated areas or a probable third wave, India will employ sewage surveillance programme which involves testing the sewage water reaching treatment plants for SARS-CoV-2 virus through the standard RT-PCR test.

The department of biotechnology has drawn up a detailed sewage surveillance plan. This plan will be rolled out through the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), a network of 35 genome sequencing laboratories.

This technology involves testing effluents of colonies in high density areas at the waste water treatment plant facility to detect any probable Covid-19 outbreak.

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A senior government official, who did not wish to be identified, told ET, "A person who has been infected starts shedding the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the faeces on the very first day. At that time the person may be asymptomatic or symptomatic but he starts shedding the virus. If there is a spread in a colony, the untreated waste water will have the virus. So this plan will see our laboratories collecting the waste water samples at the sewage treatment plant and running tests to detect viral genome load. It can be used effectively to predict a spread in a particular area over a 2 weeks."

The waste water-based epidemiology has been used in a limited manner in India. Hyderabad-based CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) had used waste water surveillance to detect viral spread.

However, it was never a full-fledged surveillance programme. A scientist involved with an INSACOG laboratory told ET, "The results of the waste water surveillance programme showed that untreated waste water samples tested for the virus were positive but after treatment the samples collected outside the plants were negative. This showed that sewage treatment eliminated SARS-CoV-2 virus."

Waste water based epidemiology is being used by several countries to predict spread across specific regions. US has National Waste Water Surveillance programme to track the corona virus. Other countries that have used similar technologies include Australia, Brazil, Netherlands and Spain.

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The government official quoted above said, "There have been similar projects across the world to track spread of polio virus. With a highly contagious virus like SARS-CoV-2 a waste water surveillance programme can help in predicting a spread."
  • Published On Oct 4, 2021 at 02:53 PM IST
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