Genetic materials of Covid-19 have been found in Hyderabad’s iconic Hussain Sagar Lake and some other lakes. This has been revealed in a study. Apart from Hussain Sagar, virus material has also been found in Nacharam lake and the Nizam Talab.
The study revealed that these genetic materials in the water started growing in February this year, when the second wave of pandemic started in the country. The presence of genetic material of SARS-CoV-2 in these lakes in Hyderabad could act as an early warning signal for future waves of Coronavirus pandemic.
The study was conducted by monitoring water samples in lakes over seven months, by scientists from the Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research–Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT) and CSIR-CCMB (CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology) in Hyderabad, and AcSIR (Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research) in Ghaziabad.
Similar wastewater based epidemiology (WBE) studies are being carried out in other countries as well to track the virus. The material present in the lake water is only genetic fragments of Covid-19 and not the actual virus, and therefore there is no possibility of waterborne or fecal–oral transmission, CCMB Director Dr Rakesh Mishra said.