Viruses found in air samples from Dane County, Wisconsin schools

Credits

About This Project

Schools from throughout Dane County, Wisconsin have collaborated with our team to collect air samples from their cafeterias. We then test these air samples for viral nucleic acids to understand which viruses are present in these schools. This complements respiratory virus testing of clinical samples coordinated by the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene. Unlike clinical sample testing, which is typically performed on those who seek medical care and therefore biased towards those who have severe symptoms, air sampling is symptom-independent. Air sampling also provides data from people who may not have access to medical care and laboratory testing. Because air sampling captures aggregate data from everyone who breathes in a space, it also provides a cost-effective way to monitor viral activity.

Community Partners

• Public Health Madison Dane County
• EAGLE School
• Madison Country Day School
• Madison Metropolitan School District
• Oregon School District

Data & Analysis

• Data Collection: Air samples are collected with ThermoFisher AerosolSense or inBio Apollo instruments. These are high-volume (~200 liters per minute) air samplers that collect particulates onto substrates. The substrates are brought to the laboratories of Dave and Shelby O'Connor. Particulates are rinsed from the filters in phosphate-buffered saline. Nucleic acids are isolated from the eluate and tested for multiple viral targets with a Standard Biotools™ Respiratory Pathogen Panel Assay .
• Analysis Pipeline: The Respiratory Pathogen Panel Assay gives a qualitative (Positive/Negative) result for each virus tested. These results are stored on a Labkey Server SDMS. For these plots, results are retrieved from Labkey, analyzed, and visualized. The underlying data for the plots that aggregate across multiple schools and the line list of deidentified individual test results are provided in CSV format.

• Update Frequency: Most schools collect samples for 3-4 days at a time. These samples are typically retrieved from the schools once-a-week by a courier and are tested with the RPP assay the same week. So there is typically a 7-14 day delay between sample collection and availability on this dashboard. The date a sampling begins is used to determine the weekly bin for plotting.

Data Usage & Licensing

This data provided here is intended for public use and is made available under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license that allows unrestricted sharing and adapting for non-commercial use.

Disclaimer

The raw data published on this dashboard has been obtained from deidentified and aggregated materials collected in accordance with the law and ethical guidelines governing the research studies. This data is made available for informational purposes only. This data set has not been independently verified, validated, or peer reviewed. It may contain errors, omissions, or artifacts inherent to the methods used in data collection and processing and is provided as is without any warranty of accuracy or completeness.

This data is neither intended for clinical or diagnostic purposes nor should it be used for making public policy. Users must not rely on this dataset to inform health care decisions, public health strategies, or regulatory actions. Any conclusions drawn from this data are the sole responsibility of the user.

By accessing or using this data, you assume all risks and acknowledge these limitations. You further agree to use this data responsibly, in compliance with all applicable legal and ethical standards.

About Lungfish

Lungfish is a project funded by Inkfish Medical. Dave O'Connor, Shelby O'Connor, and Marc Johnson jointly lead the Lungfish project from their labs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Missouri.