Australian experts will pick through poo in a trial they hope will allow them to detect disease outbreaks early and inform the road out of the coronavirus lockdown.

Researchers at the Australian National University hope to replicate results out of the Netherlands that found coronavirus traces in sewage long before cases of the virus were officially reported.

Sewage could soon be used to identify coronavirus outbreaks early on. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The study comes as Health Minister Greg Hunt identified early tracing as key to relaxing social distancing measures, saying the study had the potential to improve Australia's "rapid response capability".

An ANU epidemiologist working on the project said it could become a crucial data point in debates over what type of social distancing measures to relax, and where.