Posted on 05/11/2023 11:57:49 AM PDT by nickcarraway
The program is the first in the country to continuously monitor sewage from airplanes
International travelers can now contribute valuable data to COVID-19 surveillance efforts in the United States from above the clouds.
San Francisco International Airport has launched a new program to test airplane wastewater for variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, the airport announced May 9. The program is the first in the country to continuously monitor sewage from airplanes, after previous studies demonstrated the potential value of this work.
Airplane wastewater is a key source for COVID-19 surveillance because international travelers frequently bring new variants into the country, experts say. As fewer people get their noses swabbed in health care facilities, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is looking for new ways to keep tabs on how the coronavirus mutates. Searching for genetic material in airplane bathroom waste can help fill that data gap — and even provide early warnings for future health crises (SN: 5/28/20).
“We know variants have been imported from around the globe,” says Alexandria Boehm, an environmental engineer at Stanford University who leads WastewaterSCAN, one of the biggest wastewater surveillance programs in the United States. Testing airplane waste “can give us a sense of which variants are being imported and help us prepare.”
For the new project, the San Francisco airport is collaborating with the CDC and Concentric by Ginkgo, a biosecurity and public health team in Boston.
Testing started on April 20, according to a spokesperson for the airport. Airport workers are taking samples from vacuum trucks that suck waste out of airplane bathrooms, using an automatic machine that plugs into a central dumping point. “We’re basically creating a composite sample of the trucks, which themselves are a composite sample of aircraft,” says Andrew Franklin, director of business development
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencenews.org ...
They just keep hanging on.
They’d be better off monitoring for Hepatitis and HIV.
By having aircraft empty their tanks while over San Francisco.
Oh what fun. Are they using large kitty litter scoopers? Or what?
Costing how much??
Last time I flew, isn’t there all of that blue toilet water (disinfectant/deodorant) swirling with the flush. Anything there’s going to be sanitized.
Sidewalks?
If they had installed this tech ON the aircraft in 2019, we could have turned all the infected Chinese planes around mid-flight and sent them back to China.
What’s the point of testing after the plane is on the ground and the passengers have gone?
Bflr
If they are really concerned with protecting the people from Covid, shouldn’t they be monitoring the poop on the sidewalks? Vastly more people come in contact with that than the comparatively small percentage that are going into airline toilets.
Hmm. Plane waste?
Word is SF is full of garbage and crap more than just about every other city just on its streets
Bs.
SMH. They are looking for a way to start their totalitarian 💩 again.
Big deal. They get thousands of international flights every week.
A job for don l’mon.
Now there’s a job: plane poo inspector.
“San Francisco Airport Will Monitor Plane Waste for COVID-19 Variants”
“Sniff that Herman. Tell me if’n it smells like COVID.”
“San Francisco Airport Will Monitor Plane Waste for COVID-19 Variants”
= = = = =
“Sniff that Herman. Tell me if’n it smells like COVID.”
= = = ==
“Yo, Ethel. Herman says this here one smells like COVID. Give it a taste...tell me what variety it is, will ya?”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.