(Wednesday, August 10, 2022) – Through a new national effort, a growing number of communities are monitoring their sewage to track levels of monkeypox, COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.  The effort called WastewaterSCAN tests for viral genetic markers in wastewater to provide health officials and the public with high-quality data about the entire community. This data can guide decisions that can help slow the spread of the diseases being monitored. WastewaterSCAN uses methods developed by researchers at Stanford and Emory universities that in June resulted in the first reported detection of monkeypox in wastewater. The goal is to monitor wastewater treatment plants that serve about 45 percent of the US population.

Alexandria Boehm, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University, explains the importance of wastewater monitoring.

SOUNDBITE #1:

MONITORING WASTEWATER CAN GUIDE THE PUBLIC HEALTH RESPONSE TO MONKEYPOX, COVID, INFLUENZA AND R-S-V. BY MEASURING THE VIRAL GENETIC MATERIAL IN SEWAGE, WE CAN UNDERSTAND INFECTIOUS DISEASE TRENDS IN A COMMUNITY AND THEN RESPOND TO NEW THREATS AS THEY EMERGE.

Marlene Wolfe, assistant professor of environmental health at Emory University, elaborates.

SOUNDBITE #2:

THIS IS A FLEXIBLE PLATFORM, SO WITH THE SAME SAMPLES COLLECTED EACH WEEK WE CAN TEST FOR THOSE DISEASES THAT ARE CURRENTLY OF PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERN. WE CAN SEE TRENDS IN INFECTIONS FOR MULTIPLE DISEASES ACROSS THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY SERVED BY A TREATMENT PLANT, AND WE DO THIS THREE TIMES A WEEK TO GIVE OFFICIALS AND THE PUBLIC HIGH-QUALITY DATA THEY CAN USE IN MAKING INFORMED DECISIONS.

For more information, visit wastewaterscan.org.