Wastewater testing specifically for bird flu virus will scale up nationally in coming weeks
Less than a month ago, researchers reported for the first time the ability to scan wastewater for signs of the H5 influenza virus currently sickening dairy cows in at least nine states across the U.S. That technology is now at the threshold of real-world use.
WastewaterSCAN, an infectious disease-tracking sewage surveillance network led by Stanford University and Emory University in partnership with Verily Life Sciences, has begun scaling up H5-specific testing of samples from all of its 190 sites at treatment plants across 36 states. The philanthropically funded effort will begin sharing data with local public health officials and on its public dashboard in the coming weeks, one of its leaders told STAT.
