LISTENING TO OUR GUTS

ONCE THE CORONAVIRUS made its human debut, it wasn't long before scientists found the virus in our poop. Fecal samples from the earliest patients, including the first known case in America, revealed people were shedding the virus not only from their noses and mouths, but also through their excrement. This would turn out to be a pivotal discovery: If the virus was in our waste, it had to be in the sewers, too. And the sewers, scientists hoped, held information about how the virus was spreading, Guy H. Palmer, a professor of pathology and infectious diseases at Washington State University, told me. "They started saying, 'We know this is in the wastewater. Can we measure it?"
The answer was a resounding yes. By sampling sewage, scientists discovered they could estimate Covid trends across communities with stunning accuracy.
"Wastewater surveillance"-the practice of monitoring sewage for pathogens, contaminants, or drugs-has since become a game-changer in the fight against Covid, particularly as at-home testing has eclipsed testing in clinics. As Palmer and his colleagues noted in a recent 151-page report for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, dozens of cities and states across the US have used sewer data to track Covid outbreaks, identify hotspots for vaccination outreach, decide where to allocate treatments like monoclonal antibodies, and serve as an early alarm for individual communities like schools or universities. In other words, the data contained in our poop has likely saved lives.
Esta historia es de la edición July/August 2023 de Mother Jones.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición July/August 2023 de Mother Jones.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar

Immigrants on the Line
They fled Haiti only to endure brutal working conditions at a Colorado plant run by the world's biggest meatpacker. Now they face deportation.

HOW TO DRIVE ELON MUSK DOWN
If you think mass protests can't combat evil, remember what we did in the 1980s.

GUARANTEED FAILURE
Cash transfer programs are gaining steam, but our current bureaucracy is obscuring their potential.

THE BRUTAL AESTHETICS OF MAGA
Proximity to power might rely on a specific look.

ONE OF AMERICA'S BIGGEST FOR-PROFIT HOSPITAL OPERATORS IS BANKRUPT, BROKEN. AND RESPONSIBLE FOR COUNTLESS MISTREATED PATIENTS— THANKS TO ITS PRIVATE EQUITY OVERLORDS.
She'd never been one to take the easy route, and besides, she wanted to get things moving-and walking seemed the best way to do it.

THE GREAT PRETENDER
A fake campaign loan could have ended Andy Ogles' push for MAGA fame. Then Trump won again.

RAIN CHECK
The economic case for preserving America’s wetlands

GET CAUGHT FIGHTING
MAXWELL FROST IS LEARNING THE ROPES OF CONGRESS AND SHOWING HIS OLDER COLLEAGUES HOW TO PUNCH BACK IN THE AGE OF TRUMP.

CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER
Clearview Al's far-right founders always intended to target immigrants and the political left. Now their facial recognition dragnet is in the hands of the Trump administration.

SCHOOL'S OUT FOREVER
How hybrid homeschools hoover up your state tax dollars