Study On COVID-19 Contagiousness in Sewage Preliminary Results

A study on how contagious COVID-19 is in sewage is ongoing in Mexico.

Jeff Wenzel, head of Environmental Epidemiology at the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services gave an update on the project this (Wednesday) afternoon in a virtual meeting with Audrain County leadership.

The study involves 83 test sites including Mexico and collects samples of sewage prior to it reaching the wastewater treatment plants and then analyzed at MU.

Early results show that the risk of sewage being contagious is low.

Typical results show that there is a correlation between the amount of the virus in sewage and the number of cases in the community.

In a June sample from Meico though, there was very little virus detected in the sewage, yet cases were on the rise.

The project is expected to expand to other cities and last through at least the end of the year.

A more detailed report is expected in two to three weeks according to Wenzel.