Thanks, Jeff. Interestingly, I already have access to both a qPCR system and a Nanopore sequencer. I’d be very interested in exploring this idea further. I can also envision expanding the work to include sampling from poultry farmers, abattoir workers, and even members of the general public for broader epidemiological insights
If you’re trying to flag something engineered, I think the general public makes more sense than people who work with animals. What we do at the NAO (we really need to write up a page on this!) is visit busy public places, put out a sign, and ask if people are interested in swabbing their nose for science. People swab their own noses, drop them in a shared container, and we pay a small amount per swab. It’s under IRB, and if you were looking to do something similar we could share our IRB documentation?
Thanks for this perspective. I’m very interested in collaborating. Please send the IRB documentation and any sample protocol or consent forms to eennadi@plasu.edu.ng.
I’ll review them and adapt what’s needed for local ethics submission here, and I can share practical notes on community engagement and sampling logistics for busy public venues in Jos. I also have prior field experience, I participated in house-to-house nasal sampling during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, so I’m familiar with operational realities.
If that sounds good, I’d welcome a short (20–30 minute) call to align on aims, data-sharing, and next steps. I’m keen to explore a pilot we could co-design and co-author.
Thanks, Jeff. Interestingly, I already have access to both a qPCR system and a Nanopore sequencer. I’d be very interested in exploring this idea further. I can also envision expanding the work to include sampling from poultry farmers, abattoir workers, and even members of the general public for broader epidemiological insights
If you’re trying to flag something engineered, I think the general public makes more sense than people who work with animals. What we do at the NAO (we really need to write up a page on this!) is visit busy public places, put out a sign, and ask if people are interested in swabbing their nose for science. People swab their own noses, drop them in a shared container, and we pay a small amount per swab. It’s under IRB, and if you were looking to do something similar we could share our IRB documentation?
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for this perspective. I’m very interested in collaborating. Please send the IRB documentation and any sample protocol or consent forms to eennadi@plasu.edu.ng.
I’ll review them and adapt what’s needed for local ethics submission here, and I can share practical notes on community engagement and sampling logistics for busy public venues in Jos. I also have prior field experience, I participated in house-to-house nasal sampling during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, so I’m familiar with operational realities.
If that sounds good, I’d welcome a short (20–30 minute) call to align on aims, data-sharing, and next steps. I’m keen to explore a pilot we could co-design and co-author.
Best regards,
Nnaemeka
Thanks! I’ll pass this along to Simon who leads our swab sampling work.