Oregon Wastewater Surveillance

From September 2020 to June 2022 about 20 sewers sites on the OSU Corvallis campus, as well as 2 sites on the Hatfield and 1 site on the Cascade campus were sampled for the presence and concentration of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The sites were sampled twice per week, and the results were reported to OSU campus administration and placed on a public results site. OSU funded the effort to monitor and track staff and student infections. They use the wastewater data in concert with clinical testing and other public health metrics to make decisions to protect the OSU and surrounding communities. The OSU Wastewater Surveillance lab contributed to a nation-wide analysis on campus testing published in 2021 (Harris-Lovett et al.)