Samples from wastewater in several U.S. states have tested "very high" or "high" for levels of the virus that causes COVID-19.
SARS-CoV-2 levels were found by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to be "very high" in New Mexico for the period November 10 to November 16, 2024, and "high" in Arizona, Kentucky, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota.
"Moderate" levels of the virus were detected in Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, and Wyoming.
19 states had "low" levels detected, while "minimal" levels were spotted in 14 states and D.C.
However, the data from Arizona, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Mississippi, and Ohio all have limited coverage, meaning that it is "based on a small segment (less than 5 percent) of the population and may not be representative of the state/territory," the CDC explained. North Dakota also has no data for this period.
The week prior, between November 3 and November 9, "very high" levels of viral activity were also detected in New Mexico, with "high" levels being found in Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota.
Many viruses are excreted in feces, even if the infected individual has no symptoms. This includes SARS-CoV-2, which has been shown to be present in the gastrointestinal tract of infected individuals. Once in the wastewater system, viral particles, or fragments of their genetic material, are carried to treatment plants. Testing of this wastewater can detect these fragments, providing valuable information about the presence of the virus in a community.
By regularly testing wastewater, the CDC can track trends in viral levels, helping public health officials assess whether COVID-19 cases are increasing, decreasing, or remaining stable in a community.
"Wastewater monitoring can detect viruses spreading from one person to another within a community earlier than clinical testing and before people who are sick go to their doctor or hospital. It can also detect infections without symptoms. If you see increased wastewater viral activity levels, it might indicate that there is a higher risk of infection," the CDC explains.
CDC data shows that COVID virus levels have hugely dropped since the summer months, with most regions still trending downwards. However, there is a slight uptick in virus activity in the Northeast and the Midwest
As of November 16, subvariant KP.3.1.1 made up 34 percent of COVID-19 cases in U.S. wastewater over the previous two weeks. New XEC variant made up 21 percent, KP.3 made up 18 percent, JN.1 made up 13 percent, and "other" made up 15 percent.
"There is no evidence, and no particular reason to believe, that XEC causes different symptoms than all the other SARS-CoV-2 currently in circulation," Francois Balloux, a profesor of computational systems biology at University College London in England, previously told Newsweek. "XEC is not expected to cause more (or less) severe symptoms than other lineages currently in circulation."
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