(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, April 7 (Korea Bizwire) — A new system that will conduct sewage analysis to monitor the spread of infectious viruses like the coronavirus and determine the pandemic situation in the local community will take effect this month.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Thursday it will monitor various infectious pathogens including COVID-19, norovirus and influenza viruses once every week at 64 sewage treatment plants in 17 cities and provinces, starting this month.
The KDCA said it will analyze the quantity of viruses contained in the sewage to estimate the number of patients in the local community contracting infectious diseases and determine the spread of the disease.
The new system is more convenient and affordable since it does not rely on reports or tests from patients or medical staff.
It can also keep various pathogens on the radar, improving the current clinical-based monitoring system.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized sewage-based monitoring as a new method of monitoring infectious diseases, recommending its use.
The KDCA has confirmed in a series of trials of the new monitoring system that the sewage analysis data matches the incidence of disease in the local community.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
