The water flowing from your sinks, showers and even toilets may become a key part of monitoring the spread of COVID-19. With a team of researchers, Dr. Wouter Hoff, an OSU professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, is working on a method to use wastewater in an early warning system for rising COVID-19 cases. “The personal story is just a little bit too close for comfort,” Hoff said. “I had just finished a sabbatical leave partially in the Netherlands and partially in China.” Hoff’s wife, Dr. Aihua Xie, a professor in OSU’s Department of Physics, is from China, and he has friends, family and collaborators there as well, he said. “We were in Beijing and then in Shanghai, and we left Shanghai, maybe Jan. 7,” Hoff said. “So it was just before the pandemic exploded. “Then I read this story, this proof of principle in a Dutch newspaper, and it had very clear promise.” Hoff translated the story, which was focused on testing wastewater to monitor for viral loads, from Dutch into English and shared it with Dr. Akhilesh Ramachandran. Ramachandran is an associate professor in the Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab in the College of Veterinary Medicine and an expert in diagnostic microbiology. Together, they decided to try the idea here in Stillwater. “In the Netherlands, they found that wastewater testing for the virus is very effective and it can also serve as an early indicator,” Hoff said. Some people call this biosurveillance, Hoff said, but this method could be used to keep an eye on the level of other viruses like the flu. “Before [people] develop symptoms, or maybe they’re asymptomatic, it looks like they’re still shedding the virus,” he said. “And everybody uses water and brushes their teeth and uses the bathroom. So it’s a continuous finger on the pulse of how many viruses are being shed.” STORY HARRISON HILL | PHOTOS GARY LAWSON AND WOUTER HOFF Wastewater Warning System OSU researchers may soon be able to detect COVID-19 in water at treatment facilities OSU professors Dr. Aihua Xie (left) and Dr. Wouter Hoff. 2 CONNECT 2020
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