Shellfish track the spread of COVID-19 in water

In early studies, scientists found that SARS-CoV-2 particles often end up in wastewater. They remain in the water

stable for several weeks. However, scientists doubt that it can cause outbreaks in cities or natural ecosystems.

In the new work, the authors tested whether mollusks cantrack these particles in bodies of water. It is noted that these living organisms filter water and can be indicators of pollution of the aquatic environment and changes in it. 

During their work, scientists grew in theirlaboratory colonies of these mollusks and monitored whether traces of the virus would appear in their bodies if they were immersed in wastewater from sewage treatment plants in Paris and Reims.

As a result, RNA accumulated in the body of the mollusksMore interestingly, the shellfish helped detect small but significant traces of the coronavirus in treated wastewater and in river water samples from the Seine collected during the spring and fall peak of the epidemic.

Thus, Protostomes can be used as a kind of "indicators" of the level of the causative agent of COVID-19 in water bodies.

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