Wisconsin's Work in Detecting COVID in Human Waste Recognized Nationally

Tuesday, August 15th, 2023 -- 11:00 AM

(Devi Shastri, Marshfield News Herald) In September 2020, the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health officials and researchers started hunting for signs of the virus' spread in an unexpected place: our poop.

According to Devi Shastri, samples of municipal wastewater provided a wealth of information that, combined with diagnostic lab testing, hospitalization rates, and other disease surveillance data, could warn officials of a rise in cases, help them track evolving forms of the virus and inform public health policy.

In Wisconsin, a trio of research and public health organizations collaborated to expand wastewater disease testing like never before. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, molecular biologist Sandra McLellan emerged as a national expert, bringing some 20 years of experience researching wastewater and what happens when it gets into our lakes and rivers to the state's new surveillance system.

At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, scientists at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene had the capacity to process large numbers of samples quickly and efficiently, allowing the program to coordinate with wastewater treatment facilities and ultimately cover half the state's population.

And at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, epidemiologists and public health experts coordinated between their labs, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, local public health departments and others. They compiled data into a public dashboard and translated it into action.

Today, wastewater disease surveillance has become a key public health tool, even as the technology continues to evolve and improve. Wisconsin's system covers 68% of the state's sewered population.

And it stands out nationally. Last month, the CDC announced Wisconsin's wastewater program was one of four "National Centers of Excellence," a designation that will position it at the forefront of efforts to improve and expand wastewater's role in monitoring public health.

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