The virus behind the COVID-19 outbreak has been found in human feces, meaning the prevalence of the virus in sewage could map the density of current and future outbreaks.
Creating a story from this: what if researchers find more than they expected?
One, it could be a higher incidence of the virus in the population. With testing in the United States far from widespread nobody has any idea how many carriers aren’t displaying any symptoms. If the research into the sewage tells us that almost everyone is a carrier, how might that change our response?
In the story, I wouldn’t use the exact virus responsible for the global pandemic. Alternatively, there could be a substance inside the sewage system that was introduced by the government to control the population. Maybe it’s something that affects fertility rates or mind control. Similar to MK-Ultra, when the CIA dosed water with low doses of LSD in an effort to control people’s minds, or the program that adds fluoride to city water sources, which some people claim lowers IQ in addition to being an attempt by the sugar lobby to allow my people to eat candy by limiting the incidence of cavities.
If these were found, the story could come from the one whistle-blowing scientist’s attempt to disseminate the knowledge while coming under attack from the government. The first book in the series could be a thriller, where they are just trying to stay alive, and it could end when they find an isolated rural community that not only believes them but has steps in place to overthrow the people in charge. The second book could be about the scientist helping advance their cause, and the third could be the realization that the isolated group is going too far and the scientist’s attempt to stop their plans for new world order.
Going back to the news story, the company hopes to map the incidence of Coronavirus as a way to track infection rates, since testing in the United States has been slow to implement. By mapping the incidence of the virus in the sewage throughout the United States the group hopes to identify outbreaks before patients show the associated symptoms.
