It's a crappy job, but somebody's got to do it?

I know we're all pretty pooped from living with the coronavirus pandemic in our midst over the last few months. But, a new testing procedure could be the key to early detection and early warning of possible outbreaks in the state ... and the proof is in the poop. 

Thanks to a grant from the Colorado Department of Health and Safety, Colorado State University researchers literally want your waste. More specifically, they want to test it for coronavirus, as sewage is often the first and earliest place you can detect increasing infection. In fact, sampling the waste stream can sound the alarm to a possible outbreak four days to two weeks in advance because we shed COVID-19 in our feces before any other symptoms start to show. 

“We believe this could be a promising supplemental tool for helping predict an outbreak in a community, possibly a couple of days before, so we can shift additional resources to that area,” said Nicole Rowan, clean water program manager with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

CSU's research team, Susan De Long and Carol Wilusz, have been working since May to find a way to do large-scale sewage testing, and began collecting Fort Collins samples in June. Now, the test is ready to roll out to the Front Range. 

There will be almost 20 facilities from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs that will participate in the testing. Each one will collect raw sewage, which is then packed on ice and overnighted to CSU, like a DoorDash for dookie. Once there, it's filtered (to remove the ... uh ... lumps) and tested with the digital PCR machine CSU bought in 2015. During testing, RNA will be extracted, as COVID-19 is an RNA virus and used to make DNA copies of the target specific to the virus that causes COVID-19.

“Isolating RNA from sewage is something I never thought I’d be doing,” Wilusz said to the Source. “I’ve learned a lot more about sewage than I probably ever needed to know.”

Test results will be used to determine which areas of the Front Range have more of the virus present, though it can't determine which people actually have it. It can then be used to form public health recommendations, whether that be none, more distancing, or the shutdown of a specific area. If it has to happen, shutting down specific areas is a much better option than shutting down the entire state. Importantly, it's extremely cost-effective and isn't just a crapshoot when it comes to efficacy. It has a history of being effective to monitor challenges like polio, illegal drug use, and more. 

Best of all, it can also indicate communities that are healthy or returning to health after an outbreak (i.e. getting their poop in a group).

"Not only is this an early warning signal for when things are getting worse, it’s a nice signal for when things are getting better," De Long said.

What do you think about feces testing? Should our poop be scooped ... and tested? Let us know in the comments.