Story at a glance
- Wastewater surveillance is helpful for monitoring coronavirus within a community.
- Although the exact identity of the viruses in the samples cannot be determined, researchers can look for mutations that are associated with the omicron variant.
- The data from four states suggest that the omicron variant was spreading earlier than when the first omicron case was officially detected.
The first omicron case was reported in the U.S. on Dec. 1, 2021 and since then has led to a wave of omicron cases nationwide. However, a new analysis of wastewater surveillance data suggests that omicron could have been spreading as early as Nov. 21.
The National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is made up of 43 health departments. Four states, California, Colorado, New York and Texas, were the first of these health departments to detect potential omicron virus in community wastewater between the period of Nov. 21 and Dec. 16.
Viruses are broken down into pieces by the time they are in wastewater, so the health officials can only analyze fragments of the viral genome. But, they saw signs of omicron mutations in the viruses found in wastewater and this suggests that omicron may have been present in the population.
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In California, two samples collected on Nov. 25 and 30 from Northern California communities contained pieces of viral genetic material that the experts think could be omicron. By Dec. 17, the team could detect an omicron mutation in wastewater samples from all 10 sampled watersheds in the state.
In Colorado, the health department samples 21 sewersheds biweekly. The team detected 13 omicron associated mutations in a sample collected on Dec. 2. After that, no mutations were detected on Dec. 6 but by Dec. 16 omicron associated mutations were detected in 19 of 21 sampling sites.
In New York City, 12 omicron associated mutations were found in a sample collected on Nov. 21. And in Houston, six mutations were found in samples collected on Nov. 29 from seven sewersheds around the city.
These were the first four states to detect omicron related mutations in wastewater. Health officials cannot confirm the official variant that these pieces of virus came from because of the nature of the samples. Virus starts breaking down when it enters wastewater systems meaning that sampling methods will not be able to capture whole viruses. This data is helpful to provide evidence that the omicron variant was present in the population before the first official case was detected.
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