ASHKELON, Israel (Reuters) – Sewer tracking off the coast of the city of Ashkelon, Israel, has seen unknown outbreaks of COVID-19 through the identification of virus lines in the sewer system.
The project, similar to those undertaken in other countries, was carried out through the water control company Kando and researchers from Israeli educational institutions, adding Ben Gurion University and Haifa Technion.
Research has highlighted sewage as a way to detect outbreaks early, as well as the ability of hot spots to express the streets, Kando said Thursday.
Early studies by scientists in the Netherlands, France, Australia and elsewhere recommend that sampling wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus symptoms can help estimate the number of infections in a geographic domain without having to verify the person.
Wastewater samples from the Paris sewer formula show COVID-19 lines since last June, after disappearing when France imposed a blockade.
For the Israeli pilot study, the coastal town of Ashkelon was selected, with a population of 150,000, because it was thought to have a small number of cases. But researchers have discovered vital traces of coronavirus in municipal water, Kando said.
The effects recommend that tracking the remains of coronavirus in the sewer formula may be a more effective measure of the extent of epidemics than testing individuals, especially given the asymptomatic nature of many other people with COVID-19, he said.
“This will allow the government to take steps to engage long-term epidemics,” said Nadav Davidovitch, director of Ben Gurion University’s School of Public Health.
Kando said he was in talks with several cities in Israel and about the deployment of the system.
Reporting through Tova Cohen and Amir Cohen; Editing through Steven Scheer and Mike Collett-White
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