With news of the CoVID-19 pandemic spreading around much of the world, basic research into how the virus infects and can be treated will help medical services and world governments treat and prevent spread of the disease. Virologists in the Rohwer Lab are working to understand potential viral reservoirs; or things we interact with in cities on which the virus can live and be transmitted to others. While we know CoVID-19 is transmitted through person-to-person contact, little is known about the possibility of contracting the virus from public spaces.
We are collecting samples from the San Diego area to test for traces of the SARS-CoV2 virus in the urban environment.