A surge in COVID-19 infections overseas in places like China has prompted the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to consider testing airplane wastewater for the virus.

The agency announced plans to begin inspecting airplane wastewater last month and now it is looking to clear a legal hurdle. Scientists have already found that testing wastewater for traces of the COVID-19 is a viable process and agreed that the method can act as a new defense weapon against the spread of the virus in the U.S.

An upgraded line of defense is needed as requiring international travelers to test negative for the virus before entering the country has been proven to not completely mitigate the spread of the virus. In December 2021, an airplane wastewater analysis of a flight from Ethiopia to France showed that despite passengers testing negative for COVID-19, the omicron variant was still present in waste.

Experts suggested that analyzing airplane wastewater can even help scientists determine how vaccines should be updated.

"If you do have a new variant that's coming and you have a wastewater sample, it's going to be more concentrated coming out of a smaller sewer shed or an airport," Sandra McLellan, professor of freshwater sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, told NBC. "If you just look in the municipal wastewater, you could miss it."

When it comes to a potential legal dispute in assessing airplane wastewater, some countries could consider airplanes their own territory and removing anything from them could be considered theft, according to Kata Farkas, research officer at Bangor University and contributor to a new airplane wastewater study.

Share:
More In Technology
GameStop Meme Stock Home WallStreetBets Loses Momentum One Year Later
A year after the r/WallStreetBets community on Reddit drove GameStop and other meme stocks to unprecedented heights, the subreddit seems to be losing its luster among retail investors. Caitlin McCabe, markets and retail trading reporter from The Wall Street Journal, joined Cheddar to talk about the waning popularity of the group “Users are going on to find the next GameStop, and instead, they're seeing many of the new users who have joined the subreddit still talking about GameStop and AMC," McCabe noted. "And, they've become frustrated as they're ready to move on from those original meme stocks."
Microsoft Beats on Earnings as Cloud Services Soar
Tech titan Microsoft reported its second fiscal quarter of 2022 earnings on Tuesday, its first earnings report since announcing its plans to acquire gaming company Activision Blizzard in a multibillion dollar deal. Steve Larsen, co-founder of PlannerDAO, explains the role that cloud services played for Microsoft in the quarter and what the future may hold for Microsoft in the midst of the new acquisition.
How Vital Microsoft's Q2 Earnings Were to Wall Street
Microsoft is expected to report financial results for its second fiscal quarter of 2022. It comes after the company beat on its top and bottom line in its previous four quarters. John Freeman of CFRA Research explains what investors will be keeping an eye out for as Microsoft continues to expand its domain.
Connectivity Solutions Provider Credo Goes Public on Nasdaq
High-speed connectivity solutions provider Credo went public on the Nasdaq on Thursday, raising $200 million in its IPO. CEO Bill Brennan, joined Cheddar to discuss its entry into the capital markets and the next chapter for the company. "We're going to be focused on what we have been focused on, which is really creating, creating innovative connectivity solutions that really pushed the edge on efficient power as well as very effective cost," he said.
Load More