Population Health
February 23, 2021
New research identifies COVID-19 through wastewater testing
New research from the University of Washington Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences demonstrates the efficacy of skimmed-milk flocculation for rapidly detecting COVID-19 outbreaks through wastewater.
The process involves adding skim milk to raw wastewater; through this concoction, researchers can isolate and detect viral RNA.
The environmental surveillance research was supported by the Population Health Initiative’s COVID-19 rapid response grants and holds the potential to serve as an early-warning system for COVID-19 detection.