Bio-Rad Laboratories has launched its PREvalence ddPCR SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Quantification Kit, a sensitive, accurate and cost-effective tool used to detect SARS-CoV-2 in a community’s wastewater.
“With wastewater testing becoming more widely adopted, this assay provides the ability for a community to determine if the virus is present days to weeks before the virus may be detected in individuals,” said Simon May (Bio-Rad Senior Vice President, Digital Biology Group). “As we continue to manage the spread of COVID-19, it is especially important to have a highly sensitive early warning system that can be implemented on a community-wide basis,” he said.
ddPCR technology is recommended in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) guidelines for wastewater testing, and use of the technology has been published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a dependable method to quantify viruses in wastewater.
The PREvalence ddPCR SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Quantification Kit includes all reagents needed to detect the virus in wastewater, along with software for automated analysis. The test runs on Bio-Rad’s QX200 Droplet Digital PCR System, QX200 AutoDG Droplet Digital PCR System, and the QX ONE Droplet Digital PCR System. It joins Bio-Rad’s menu of COVID-19 products that are being used in the global fight against COVID-19. Other products include molecular qPCR and ddPCR instruments and assays, antibody tests, quality controls, and ddPCR assays to detect SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.