Wastewater testing can help with COVID-19 trend research

MOREHEAD CITY, Carteret County — A flush a day won't keep the doctor away, but it will help scientists with COVID-19 research in Carteret County.

The UNC Institute of Marine Science's Dr. Rachel Noble is studying the area's wastewater to search for larger trends related to the coronavirus, including if cases are rising or falling in a particular location.

Noble says the data analysis at the Morehead City institute can also help microbiologists detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus long before a clinical test does since people typically do not start exhibiting symptoms until several days after the virus enters their systems.

"What happens when a person is infected, even if they don't have symptoms, their body is actually still shedding the virus in their fecal waste," she explained, "so we would have picked up that virus from people who don't have any symptoms."

Studying wastewater is not a new concept; scientists even used wastewater back in the 1950s to learn more about polio.

Currently, the CDC is also studying wastewater related to COVID-19 in eight states, including North Carolina.