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The project Assessment of the spread of Covid-19 through waste water epidemiology: typing, community screening and occupational risk (EPISARS) , coordinated by Sílvia Bofill of the UB, with the participation of Lluís Corominas , Carles Borrego and Àlex Sànchez , of ICRA , and members of Eurecat , is one of the 36 scientific research projects of excellence selected by the TV3 Marathon 2020, with funding of €379,100.
The project will develop tools to understand the dynamics of infection for SARS-CoV-2 (and for other potential pathogens in the future) through the methodology of epidemiology based on the analysis of wastewater.
The specific objectives of the project coordinated by the UB are: 1) Monitor SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater from buildings to track the circulation of the virus (hospitals, nursing homes and universities, schools). 2) Develop molecular methodologies to assess the potential infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 excreted in faeces. 3) Improve public health management tools by assessing occupational risk related to environmental exposure to SARS-CoV-2.4) Optimize easy tools for genetic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 and other potentially pandemic viruses based on next generation sequencing. 5) Investigate the role of farm animals in the transmission of coronaviruses and other potentially pandemic viruses. 6) Obtain information on the variants of SARS-CoV-2 in different areas of Catalonia and population strata.
This project will contribute in the short term to the control and prevention of the transmission of coronavirus, the identification of emerging strains, the surveillance of the circulation of the virus and the impact of the vaccine and will develop management tools that will be used to deal with future potential epidemics.
