Kendra Maas tested 680 samples of wastewater from the Storrs campus for the COVID-19 virus during the fall 2020 semester.<\/p>\n
And she still doesn\u2019t think wastewater is all that gross<\/a>.<\/p>\n Saliva samples, though, are another story.<\/p>\n \u201cPooled saliva is not as gross, because we\u2019re doing gargle samples, so it\u2019s like a little bit of water that you gargle for 10 seconds and then spit back into the tube,\u201d she says. \u201cBut when you tell someone to spit in a tube? It\u2019s just so gross.\u201d<\/p>\n Maas, who works as the facility scientist for UConn\u2019s Microbial Analysis, Resources, and Services laboratory<\/a>, also known as MARS, is getting ready for more spit, and more wastewater, when campus reopens for the spring semester. Her lab will again be processing pooled saliva samples as part of the University\u2019s multi-pronged coronavirus testing and surveillance program<\/a>. She\u2019ll also continue testing samples of campus wastewater from the 15 pump locations that were established and installed during the fall as well as from new locations that they\u2019re setting up over the winter break.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll be putting pumps on some additional buildings \u2013 including the facilities and warehouse buildings \u2013 just to capture that area, because that\u2019s a huge proportion of the population on campus right now,\u201d Maas says. \u201cI\u2019m also trying to figure out where to put a pump on the science complex. That one is difficult because of construction.\u201d<\/p>\n Adding difficulty for Maas and her lab team \u2013 which included one post-doctoral student, three graduate students, and two undergrads during the fall semester \u2013 is Connecticut\u2019s winter weather, which has already caused some of the wastewater sampling pumps to freeze.<\/p>\n Maas, though, is currently testing a new sampling method using a common, inexpensive, and highly absorbent product that would allow samples to be taken in areas where a pump cannot be installed, as well as eliminating the problems caused by frozen pumps.<\/p>\n \u201cWe put out this absorbent product, otherwise known as a tampon,\u201d Maas says, \u201cand it sits in the sewer, in the wastewater, and you let it absorb for 24 hours and then quantify the virus from that.\u201d<\/p>\n Maas, who is in regular contact with wastewater testing colleagues from around the globe, said the \u201ctampon method\u201d has been deployed with success by a researcher in Colombia, who is unable to purchase pumps, as well as a scientist in Arizona who wanted to develop a more cost-effective method that could be deployed across the Navajo Nation. Over the winter break, she plans to test the method\u2019s effectiveness on her own by comparing tampon samples with those collected from the pumps, with the hopes of deploying both sampling methods during the spring semester.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s some dorms that we can\u2019t get pumps on,\u201d she says, \u201cbecause there\u2019s nowhere to put a pump. Then there\u2019s other dorms where we can get a pump, but it is 10 buildings. So, we could have a pump going there, and then also sample a few of the buildings with the tampon method.\u201d<\/p>\n Maas initiated the wastewater testing program over the summer and began deploying it around the start of the semester. Shortly after an individual contracts the coronavirus, they begin to shed large amounts of the virus through their feces, typically before they show any symptom of illness. Researchers believe that wastewater testing can begin to show increased viral abundance \u2013 evidence that an outbreak is about to occur \u2013 up to seven days before individuals become symptomatic.<\/p>\n Maas had hoped that wastewater testing on campus would give an early warning of when outbreaks might happen, and where they were starting to occur on campus. Instead, though, the wastewater testing became more of a backstop \u2013 confirming the validity of the University\u2019s individual and pooled testing programs and contact tracing efforts.<\/p>\n \u201cStudent Health and Wellness is so good at their contact tracing, that most of the time I would tell them that I was seeing a spike, and they had already found it through contact tracing,\u201d Maas says. \u201cAnd that\u2019s not a bad thing at all. In September, I would have been worried about the low levels I was seeing, except Student Health and Wellness was also seeing no positives. And at the same time, they felt better that all of their negative tests were okay, because they had the wastewater to prove that it was correct.\u201d<\/p>\n Cities and towns have a much more difficult time conducting contact tracing, Maas says, which is where the seven-day lead of wastewater testing may prove most valuable. She\u2019s opened up her lab \u2013 from the outset, she purposely built in capacity to test a significant number of samples at a time \u2013 to municipalities within the state looking to use their wastewater systems to track infection. The towns of Manchester, Windham, and Glastonbury are all currently supplying Maas with samples to test, and she has plans to work with the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and the University of Hartford on wastewater testing in the spring as well.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a few more towns that I have heard rumors about, that they\u2019re going to be talking to me,\u201d she says, \u201cand we still have plenty of capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n While she has also been building the methodology to begin testing wastewater for influenza as well as COVID-19 \u2013 flu viruses are similarly shed through fecal material \u2013 those plans have been put on hold for now, because there hasn\u2019t been any influenza to be found.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thought was that it would be good to tease out who has flu-like symptoms because of influenza and who has flu-like symptoms from COVID,\u201d she says. \u201cThe thing is, though, there’s no influenza right now. Anywhere. Because masking works. It’s incredible, and it\u2019s a great side effect, because when people were saying, \u2018COVID is just a flu\u2019 \u2013 well, no, it\u2019s worse than the flu. It\u2019s worse than the worst flu year. But also, the flu is not good. We should be trying to prevent the flu.\u201d<\/p>\n