Project purpose
To monitor surface water near eight Duluth-area beaches for the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease.
Why do this?
The project seeks to provide sound, scientific information that public officials, the tourism industry, and Minnesotans can use to make informed decisions about water recreation activity.
Project description
Minnesota Sea Grant funded a research project to test for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, at eight Duluth-area beaches during the summer of 2020. Water samples from each beach were taken once each week (Friday through Sunday) from August through the end of September. Tests of each water sample took about three to four days to process. The tests were used to tell us two things:
1. If there was detectable evidence of humans in the water. This is done by checking for the presence of a pepper virus (pepper mild mottle virus - PMMoV) that appears in the feces of people who have eaten peppers. Animals do not typically eat peppers, so the presence of the pepper virus is how we tell people were in the water.
2. If there is any detectable SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, in the sampled water.
Results
Funding
This project is supported by a Minnesota Sea Grant 2020 Program Development Grant.
Lead scientist(s)
Richard Melvin
Assistant Professor
Department of Biomedical Sciences
University of Minnesota Medical School
University of Minnesota Duluth
218-726-8807
melv0001@d.umn.edu
Media Mentions
- Discovery at Duluth Beaches Relating to COVID-19
- U of M Medical School Researchers Found Traces of COVID-19 on Beaches
- Trace amounts of virus that causes COVID-19 found in Lake Superior water
- Researchers: Virus that causes COVID-19 in Lake Superior beach water
- Coronavirus detected in lake water, researchers find. Experts say don't panic
- Researchers find virus that causes COVID-19 in Lake Superior beach water
- Virus linked to COVID-19 found at four Duluth beaches
- The virus that causes COVID-19 found at four Duluth beaches
- Researchers find virus that causes COVID-19 found in Lake Superior beach water
- Researchers detect virus that causes COVID at four Duluth beaches this month
- UMD researchers detect coronavirus in water at Lake Superior beaches
- Coronavirus found in Lake Superior at Duluth beaches though waterborne spread u…
- U of M Medical School researchers look to beach water for COVID community infec…
- Researchers check Lake Superior beaches for coronavirus
- Sea Grant tests beaches along Lake Superior for COVID-19
- Can the COVID virus be found on Lake Superior beaches?
- Can COVID-19 linger in Lake Superior - Researchers are trying to find out
- Researchers are looking for signs of COVID-19 at Lake Superior beaches. They ha…
Partners
- Minnesota Department of Health, State/Local Government
- University of Minnesota, Medical School - Duluth, Academic Institution (College and University)
- University of Minnesota, Institute for Health Informatics, Academic Institution (College and University)
- University of Minnesota, School of Public Health, Academic Institution (College and University)