LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — One UAMS researcher is finding new ways to track COVID-19 – and it comes from an unlikely source.
"In that sense, it is a bit of a dirty job," Dr. David Userry, a researcher and professor at UAMS. "But on the other hand, you can learn a lot of information from that."
Dr. Userry uses what you flush to figure out where COVID-19 is. It's a dirty job, but an important one.
"The idea is that you can use these sequences for these pathogens and keep track of them," Dr. Userry said. "If you look at the collective waste, if you look at the sub-samples... you could look to measure small amounts of the coronavirus."
The process involves sequencing a genome from the samples he collects. Once he's seen a unique genome once, tracking it again is simple, and speed is key when it comes to the virus.
"In an ideal situation, if you could detect it earlier on, that's better," Dr. Userry said.
The process is so specific that they can figure out what room a positive sample came from.
"In principle, you can even say, now that we know it's coming down to this," Dr. Userry said. "Say it's this particular dorm room or this particular building has got problems, you can monitor in general, everything."
It's a process that starts at wastewater facilities, where what you flush ends up at. Michael Clayton, the director at North Little Rock's facility, says it's a process that's beneficial to try.
"The benefit for environmental surveillance is the simple fact that COVID-19 can be detected in wastewater five days prior to clinical testing," Clayton said in an email to THV11.
Dr. Userry is using samples in Conway currently, but says he plans to expand once proper funding is obtained.