Press release from the Saxon State Ministry for Science, Culture and Tourism

SMWK financed project with EUR 1.22 million in state funding

Two years of scientific work in which thousands of samples from processing plants across Germany were assessed have paid off: SARS-CoV-2 infection among the population can be detected early on from wastewater. It was possible to ascertain an increase in viral load in wastewater several days before the number of diagnosed cases of infection rose.

The Saxon State Ministry for Science, Culture and Tourism (SMWK) provided EUR 1.22 million of state funding to the “SARS-CoV-2 wastewater monitoring” project led by TU Dresden and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) Leipzig. The monitoring system developed is now being applied in a pilot project for systematic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater under the direction of the Robert Koch Institute. The Institute of Hydrobiology and the Institute of Urban and Industrial Water Management at the Faculty of Environmental Sciences as well as the Institute of Virology and the Institute of Clinical Pharmacology at the Faculty of Medicine make up TU Dresden’s team.

What made this project from the local region stand out was the approach of covering a large portion of the state by relying on multiple testing sites over a period of two years, with multiple samples being taken per week. In addition to coronaviruses, other pathogens were also detected, which corroborates the extended applicability of this monitoring, for instance for confirming the presence of influenza viruses or multi-drug resistant microorganisms. The project also explored various aspects of sampling, the logistics of prompt sample shipping and the provision of analysis results, as well as modeling methods, which could lead to the prognosis of the course of infection. This comprehensive approach of including all relevant aspects of monitoring is what makes the project unique.   

Minister of Science Sebastian Gemkow comments, “The project is one of the most exciting scientific experiments that the Saxon Fund for Overcoming Covid (Sächsischer Corona-Bewältigungsfonds) has made possible since 2020. State funding for this is money well invested. Being able to curb pandemics with the aid of monitoring systems developed in Saxony would be an invaluable advantage to commerce and society. I am particularly proud that Saxony can take on a pioneering role through this outstanding innovation.”

Prof. Dr. Peter Krebs (TUD) adds, “Recording the course of the Covid-19 pandemic based on wastewater trends entails additional challenges in contrast to gathering data on drugs or pharmaceuticals. However, we can safely say that this method – from the sampling to the entire analysis procedure to the data-based modeling – is ready to be integrated in pandemic and epidemic management. The final conference illustrated that health authorities are also very interested. We would like to share our deepest gratitude with the Saxon State Ministry for Science, Culture and Tourism for funding our project.”

The monitoring system developed by TUD and UFZ can also be used in the future as an early warning system even when cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection among the population are low. And vice versa, it can also be used to predict decreased case numbers and be used to give the “all-clear.”

You can find further details (in German) about the project on the UFZ website: https://www.ufz.de/index.php?de=4720