25th December, 2020
In partnership with Marmara University Environmental Engineering Department, Istanbul Pendik Veterinary Control Institute of the General Directorate of Food and Control and University of Health Sciences Hamidiye International School of Medicine, SUEN will be a partner of the project, “Build a SARS-CoV-2 surveillance system using sewage sludge monitoring from a community health perspective”, funded by TUBITAK (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) and NSFC (National Natural Science Foundation) of China under the coordination of Istanbul Medipol University International School of Medicine and China Capital Medical University School of Public Health.
As part of the project, primary sludge samples will be taken at regular intervals from wastewater treatment plants determined in Istanbul and China, and the SARS-CoV-2 viral load will be measured by the RT-qPCR technique. An epidemic model will be created with the data obtained from the analyses of sludge samples, and the spread of Covid-19 disease can be predicted by estimating the rate of infection in the society by means of modeling. In this way, an early warning system will be developed which decision makers can utilize in regional quarantine practices.
With the experience gained in the Covid-19 surveillance studies throughout Turkey, SUEN will contribute to the project with the provision of logistics required in the phase of sample collection and development of an epidemic model by interpretation of laboratory analysis results.