There’s Gold in That There Poop

In early 2020, wastewater monitoring was a niche field, to say the least.

WBE (Water-Based Epidemiology) was mainly concentrated around poliovirus detection in a few specific countries, specific pharmaceuticals or illicit drugs, and environmental pollutants.

Suddenly, WBE had every reason to draw in new aspiring scientists and researchers. It grew by leaps and bounds as everyone became interested in tracking wastewater to determine whether covid was spreading in a particular area. This proved to be more effective than conventional reporting mechanisms, especially as it became increasingly difficult to find accurate reporting from public health authorities.

Now, everyone wanted to check out the poop stream. You could save lives and prevent outbreaks by looking at doodies!

It’s extremely likely that WBE will increase over time and become more integrated into mainstream public health practices.

In this case, the gold was in the data, but it has hidden in other places, too.

During ancient …