Webinar: Wednesday November 25, 2020 from 12-1 PM
COVID-19 Response Award Winners Metro Vancouver in collaboration with the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) and the University of British Columbia (UBC) will be giving this talk.
Title: Measuring SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater to supplement COVID-19 surveillance in BC communities?
Brief description: SARS-CoV-2 is shed in the feces of symptomatic and asymptomatic infected individuals and has been detected in wastewater. Testing SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater can serve as an additional tool to track and predict COVID-19 transmission in BC. We developed and validated methods to quantify SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. We are applying these methods in a prospective study to quantify SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater from five of Metro Vancouver’s wastewater treatment plants. This work will generate valuable data to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater and to detect trends (increasing, decreasing, or stable). This data will inform on the incidence COVID-19 in the community and potentially serve as an early warning during a second wave of illness. Featured on CBC News!
Bio: Dr. Melissa Glier is a Research Associate working with Dr. Natalie Prystajecky at the BCCDC PHL in Environmental Microbiology. She is a molecular biologist by training and her current work is focused on developing methods to concentrate, detect and quantify (real-time RT-qPCR) COVID-19 in wastewater, in effort to use wastewater data as a proxy for studying transmission of COIVD-19 and potentially serve as an early warning indicator in BC communities.
Dr. Natalie Prystajecky, PhD, SCCM (Env)
Program Head, Environmental Microbiology, BCCDC Public Health Laboratory
Co-Program Head, Molecular and Microbial Genomics, BCCDC Public Health Laboratory
Clinical Assistant Professor, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia
See our other 2020 EMA Award winners here.