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1 | Item Type | Publication Year | Author | Title | Publication | Link | Abstract Note | Date | Abbreviation | |||||||||||||||||
2 | Journal Article | 2023 | Hill, D.T. & Larsen, D.A. | Using geographic information systems to link population estimates to wastewater surveillance data in New York State, USA. | PLOS Global Public Health | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0001062 | Sewer systems provide many services to communities that have access to them beyond removal of waste and wastewater. Understanding of these systems’ geographic coverage is essential for wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), which requires accurate estimates for the population contributing wastewater. Reliable estimates for the boundaries of a sewer service area or sewershed can be used to link upstream populations to wastewater samples taken at treatment plants or other locations within a sewer system. These geographic data are usually managed by public utilities, municipal offices, and some government agencies, however, there are no centralized databases for geographic information on sewer systems in New York State. We created a database for all municipal sewersheds in New York State for the purpose of supporting statewide wastewater surveillance efforts to support public health. We used a combination of public tax records with sewer access information, physical maps, and municipal records to organize and draw digital boundaries compatible with geographic information systems. The methods we employed to create these data will be useful to inform similar efforts in other jurisdictions and the data have many public health applications as well as being informative for water/environmental research and infrastructure projects. | 1/26/23 | PLOS Glob. Public Health | |||||||||||||||||
3 | MMWR | 2022 | A. Blythe Ryerson, PhD1,*; Daniel Lang, MS2,*; Mohammed A. Alazawi, PhD2; Milagros Neyra, MPH3; Dustin T. Hill, PhD3; Kirsten St. George, PhD2,4; Meghan Fuschino, MS2; Emily Lutterloh, MD2; Bryon Backenson, MS2; Samuel Rulli5; Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, DO5; Jacqueline Lawler, MPH6; Nancy McGraw, MPH7; Andrew Knecht, DO8; Irina Gelman, DPM8; Jane R. Zucker, MD1,9; Enoma Omoregie, PhD9; Sarah Kidd, MD1; David E. Sugerman, MD1; Jaume Jorba, PhD1; Nancy Gerloff, PhD1; Terry Fei Fan Ng, PhD1; Adriana Lopez, MHS1; Nina B. Masters, PhD1,10; Jessica Leung, MPH1; Cara C. Burns, PhD1; Janell Routh, MD1; Stephanie R. Bialek, MD1; M. Steven Oberste, PhD1,†; Eli S. Rosenberg, PhD2,11,†; 2022 U.S. Poliovirus Response Team | Wastewater Testing and Detection of Poliovirus Type 2 Genetically Linked to Virus Isolated from a Paralytic Polio Case — New York, March 9–October 11, 2022 | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7144e2.htm | What is already known about this topic? In July 2022, a case of paralytic poliomyelitis was confirmed in an unvaccinated adult Rockland County, New York resident; environmental sampling found evidence of poliovirus transmission. What is added by this report? Wastewater testing has identified circulating polioviruses genetically related to virus isolated from the Rockland County patient in at least five New York counties. What are the implications for public health practice? Public health efforts to prevent polio should focus on improving coverage with inactivated polio vaccine. Although most persons in the United States are sufficiently immunized, unvaccinated or undervaccinated persons living or working in Kings, Orange, Queens, Rockland, or Sullivan counties, New York should complete the polio vaccination series to prevent additional paralytic cases and curtail transmission. | 10/28/22 | CDC | |||||||||||||||||
4 | Journal Article | 2022 | Dustin T. Hill, Hannah Cousins, Bryan Dandaraw, Catherine Faruolo, Alex Godinez, Sythong Runa, Simon Smith, Megan Willkens, Shruti Zirath, David A.Larsen | Wastewater treatment plant operators report high capacity to support wastewater surveillance for COVID-19 across New York State, USA | Science of the Total Environment | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155664 | Wastewater surveillance for infectious disease expanded greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a collaboration between sanitation engineers and scientists, the most cost-effective deployment of wastewater surveillance routinely tests wastewater samples from wastewater treatment plants. To evaluate the capacity of treatment plants of different sizes and characteristics to participate in surveillance efforts, we developed and distributed a survey to New York State municipal treatment plant supervisors in the summer and fall of 2021. The goal of the survey was to assess the knowledge, capacity, and attitudes toward wastewater surveillance as a public health tool. Our objectives were to: (1) determine what treatment plant operators know about wastewater surveillance for public health; (2) assess how plant operators feel about the affordability and benefits of wastewater surveillance; and (3) determine how frequently plant personnel can take and ship samples using existing resources. Results show that 62% of respondents report capacity to take grab samples twice weekly. Knowledge about wastewater surveillance was mixed with most supervisors knowing that COVID-19 can be tracked via wastewater but having less knowledge about surveillance for other public health issues such as opioids. We found that attitudes toward wastewater testing for public health were directly associated with differences in self-reported capacity of the plant to take samples. Further, findings suggest a diverse capacity for sampling across sewer systems with larger treatment plants reporting greater capacity for more frequent sampling. Findings provide guidance for outreach activities as well as important insight into treatment plant sampling capacity as it is connected to internal factors such as size and resource availability. These may help public health departments understand the limitations and ability of wastewater surveillance for public health benefit. | 09/01/2022 | Sci. Total Environ. | |||||||||||||||||
5 | MMWR | 2022 | Ruth Link-Gelles, PhD1; Emily Lutterloh, MD2,3; Patricia Schnabel Ruppert, DO4; P. Bryon Backenson, MS2,3; Kirsten St. George, PhD5,6; Eli S. Rosenberg, PhD2,3; Bridget J. Anderson, PhD2; Meghan Fuschino, MS5; Michael Popowich5; Chitra Punjabi, MD4; Maria Souto, MPH4; Kevin McKay, MPH4; Samuel Rulli4; Tabassum Insaf, PhD2; Dustin Hill, PhD7; Jessica Kumar, DO2; Irina Gelman, DPM8; Jaume Jorba, PhD1; Terry Fei Fan Ng, PhD1; Nancy Gerloff, PhD1; Nina B. Masters, PhD1; Adriana Lopez, MHS1; Kathleen Dooling, MD1; Shannon Stokley, DrPH1; Sarah Kidd, MD1; M. Steven Oberste, PhD1; Janell Routh, MD1; 2022 U.S. Poliovirus Response Team | Public Health Response to a Case of Paralytic Poliomyelitis in an Unvaccinated Person and Detection of Poliovirus in Wastewater — New York, June–August 2022 | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7133e2.htm?s_cid=mm7133e2_w | On July 18, 2022, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) notified CDC of detection of poliovirus type 2 in stool specimens from an unvaccinated immunocompetent young adult from Rockland County, New York, who was experiencing acute flaccid weakness. The patient initially experienced fever, neck stiffness, gastrointestinal symptoms, and limb weakness. The patient was hospitalized with possible acute flaccid myelitis (AFM). Vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (VDPV2) was detected in stool specimens obtained on days 11 and 12 after initial symptom onset. To date, related Sabin-like type 2 polioviruses have been detected in wastewater* in the patient’s county of residence and in neighboring Orange County up to 25 days before (from samples originally collected for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater monitoring) and 41 days after the patient’s symptom onset. The last U.S. case of polio caused by wild poliovirus occurred in 1979, and the World Health Organization Region of the Americas was declared polio-free in 1994. This report describes the second identification of community transmission of poliovirus in the United States since 1979; the previous instance, in 2005, was a type 1 VDPV (1). The occurrence of this case, combined with the identification of poliovirus in wastewater in neighboring Orange County, underscores the importance of maintaining high vaccination coverage to prevent paralytic polio in persons of all ages. | 8/19/22 | CDC | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Journal Article | 2022 | Lahiruni M. Halwatura, et al. | Complementing RNA Detection with Pharmaceutical Monitoring for Early Warning of Viral Outbreaks through Wastewater-Based Epidemiology | Environmental Science & Technology Letters | https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.2c00259 | Wastewater-based epidemiology using viral nucleic acids to predict community viral outbreaks has many challenges, including differences in viral shedding of infected individuals and interference from the wastewater matrix. In this study, we demonstrate that monitoring pharmaceutical residues in untreated sewage provides complementary information that correlates with future occurrences of viral outbreaks. We monitored 63 pharmaceutically active compounds, including antivirals used to treat COVID-19 and influenza and over-the-counter drugs commonly used to relieve the symptoms of infection. Weekly sampling was conducted at four municipal sewage treatment plants in Western New York. Residues of drugs associated with managing COVID-19 symptoms were detected, including azithromycin (1.99–5.00 μg/L), chloroquine (0.01–33.00 μg/L), hydroxychloroquine (0.05–30.54 μg/L), and lopinavir (13.75–181.20 μg/L). A significant correlation (p < 0.001) was observed between the total COVID-19-related drugs detected and the 5-day rolling averages of reported cases. Acetaminophen concentrations spiked approximately 2.5 weeks before a spike in SARS-CoV-2 RNA copies in all wastewater treatment plants sampled. The results suggest over-the-counter analgesic concentrations, in particular, acetaminophen in raw sewage to be used to complement viral RNA data as an early warning system for effective management of viral outbreaks at the community level. | 5/28/22 | Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. | |||||||||||||||||
7 | Journal Article | 2022 | David A Larsen, Mary B Collins, Qian Du, Dustin Hill, Tabassum Z Insaf, Pruthvi Kilaru, Brittany L Kmush, Frank Middleton, Abigail Stamm, Maxwell L Wilder, Teng Zeng, Hyatt Green | Coupling freedom from disease principles and early warning from wastewater surveillance to improve health security | The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nexus | https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac001 | Infectious disease surveillance is vitally important to maintaining health security, but these efforts are challenged by the pace at which new pathogens emerge. Wastewater surveillance can rapidly obtain population-level estimates of disease transmission, and we leverage freedom from disease principles to make use of nondetection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater to estimate the probability that a community is free from SARS-CoV-2 transmission. From wastewater surveillance of 24 treatment plants across upstate New York from May through December of 2020, trends in the intensity of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater correlate with trends in COVID-19 incidence and test positivity (⍴ > 0.5), with the greatest correlation observed for active cases and a 3-day lead time between wastewater sample date and clinical test date. No COVID-19 cases were reported 35% of the time the week of a nondetection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. Compared to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention levels of transmission risk, transmission risk was low (no community spared) 50% of the time following nondetection, and transmission risk was moderate or lower (low community spread) 92% of the time following nondetection. Wastewater surveillance can demonstrate the geographic extent of the transmission of emerging pathogens, confirming that transmission risk is either absent or low and alerting of an increase in transmission. If a statewide wastewater surveillance platform had been in place prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers would have been able to complement the representative nature of wastewater samples to individual testing, likely resulting in more precise public health interventions and policies. | 03/02/2022 | PNAS Nexus | |||||||||||||||||
8 | Journal Article | 2022 | Kantor, R. S., Greenwald, H. D., Kennedy, L. C., Hinkle, A., Harris-Lovett, S., Metzger, M., Thornton, M. M., Paluba, J. M., & Nelson, K. L. | Operationalizing a routine wastewater monitoring laboratory for SARS-CoV-2 | PLOS WATER | https://journals.plos.org/water/article?id=10.1371/journal.pwat.0000007 | Wastewater-based testing for SARS-CoV-2 is a novel tool for public health monitoring, but additional laboratory capacity is needed to provide routine monitoring at all locations where it has the potential to be useful. Few standardization practices for SARS-CoV-2 wastewater analysis currently exist, and quality assurance/quality control procedures may vary across laboratories. Alongside counterparts at many academic institutions, we built out a laboratory for routine monitoring of wastewater at the University of California, Berkeley. Here, we detail our group’s establishment of a wastewater testing laboratory including standard operating procedures, laboratory buildout and workflow, and a quality assurance plan. We present a complete data analysis pipeline and quality scoring framework and discuss the data reporting process. We hope that this information will aid others at research institutions, public health departments, and wastewater agencies in developing programs to support wastewater monitoring for public health decision-making. | 02/15/2022 | PLOS WATER | |||||||||||||||||
9 | Journal Article | 2021 | David A Larsen, Hyatt Green, Mary B Collins, Brittany L Kmush | Wastewater monitoring, surveillance and epidemiology: a review of terminology for a common understanding | Federation of European Microbiological Societies Microbes | https://doi.org/10.1093/femsmc/xtab011 | Response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic saw an unprecedented uptake in bottom-up efforts to incorporate community wastewater testing to inform public health. While not a new strategy, various specialized scientific advancements were achieved to establish links between wastewater concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) and public health outcomes. Maximizing public health benefit requires collaboration among a broad range of disciplinary experts, each bringing their own historical context to the central goal of protecting human health. One challenge has been a lack of shared terminology. Standardized terminology would provide common ground for this rapidly growing field. Based on the review herein, we recommend categorical usage of the term ‘wastewater-based epidemiology’ to describe the science of relating microbes, chemicals or other analytes in wastewater to public health. We further recommend the term ‘wastewater surveillance’ to describe continuous monitoring of health outcomes (either microbes or chemicals) via wastewater. We suggest that ‘wastewater tracking’ and ‘wastewater tracing’ be used in more narrow ways, specifically when trying to find the source of a health risk. Finally, we suggest that the phrase ‘wastewater monitoring’ be abandoned, except in rare circumstances when ensuring wastewater discharge is safe from a public health perspective. | 08/19/2021 | FEMS Microbes | |||||||||||||||||
10 | Journal Article | 2021 | Maxwell L. Wilder, Frank Middleton, David A. Larsen, Qian Du, Ariana Fenty, Teng Zeng, Tabassum Insaf, Pruthvi Kilaru, Mary Collins, Brittany Kmush, Hyatt C. Green | Co-quantification of crAssphage increases confidence in wastewater-based epidemiology for SARS-CoV-2 in low prevalence areas | Water Research | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wroa.2021.100100 | Wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 RNA is increasingly being incorporated into public health efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to obtain the maximum benefit from these efforts, approaches to wastewater monitoring need to be rapid, sensitive, and relatable to relevant epidemiological parameters. In this study, we present an ultracentrifugation-based method for the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 wastewater RNA and use crAssphage, a bacteriophage specific to the human gut, to help account for RNA loss during transit in the wastewater system and sample processing. With these methods, we were able to detect, and sometimes quantify, SARS-CoV-2 RNA from 20 mL wastewater samples within as little as 4.5 hours. Using known concentrations of bovine coronavirus RNA and deactivated SARS-CoV-2, we estimate recovery rates of approximately 7-12% of viral RNA using our method. Results from 24 sewersheds across Upstate New York during the spring and summer of 2020 suggested that stronger signals of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from wastewater may be indicative of greater COVID-19 incidence in the represented service area approximately one week in advance. SARS-CoV-2 wastewater RNA was quantifiable in some service areas with daily positives tests of less than 1 per 10,000 people or when weekly positive test rates within a sewershed were as low as 1.7%. crAssphage DNA concentrations were significantly lower during periods of high flow in almost all areas studied. After accounting for flow rate and population served, crAssphage levels per capita were estimated to be about 1.35 × 1011 and 2.42 × 108 genome copies per day for DNA and RNA, respectively. A negative relationship between per capita crAssphage RNA and service area size was also observed likely reflecting degradation of RNA over long transit times. Our results reinforce the potential for wastewater surveillance to be used as a tool to supplement understanding of infectious disease transmission obtained by traditional testing and highlight the potential for crAssphage co-detection to improve interpretations of wastewater surveillance data. | 04/06/2021 | Water Res | |||||||||||||||||
11 | Journal Article | 2020 | Shiru Wang, Hyatt C. Green, Maxwell L. Wilder, Qian Du, Brittany L. Kmush, Mary B. Collins, David A. Larsen, Teng Zeng | High-throughput wastewater analysis for substance use assessment in central New York during the COVID-19 pandemic | Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts | https://doi.org/10.1039/D0EM00377H | Wastewater entering sewer networks represents a unique source of pooled epidemiological information. In this study, we coupled online solid-phase extraction with liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry to achieve high-throughput analysis of health and lifestyle-related substances in untreated municipal wastewater during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Twenty-six substances were identified and quantified in influent samples collected from six wastewater treatment plants during the COVID-19 pandemic in central New York. Over a 12 week sampling period, the mean summed consumption rate of six major substance groups (i.e., antidepressants, antiepileptics, antihistamines, antihypertensives, synthetic opioids, and central nervous system stimulants) correlated with disparities in household income, marital status, and age of the contributing populations as well as the detection frequency of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA in wastewater and the COVID-19 test positivity in the studied sewersheds. Nontarget screening revealed the covariation of piperine, a nontarget substance, with SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater collected from one of the sewersheds. Overall, this proof-of-the-concept study demonstrated the utility of high-throughput wastewater analysis for assessing the population-level substance use patterns during a public health crisis such as COVID-19. | 10/15/20 | Environ Sci Process Impacts | |||||||||||||||||
12 | Journal Article | 2020 | David Larsen, Krista Wigginton | Tracking COVID-19 with wastewater | Nature Biotechnology | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-020-0690-1 | Understanding the full extent of the COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing challenge for public-health officials. Any epidemiological indicator has biases and limitations. Diagnostic testing capacity may be insufficient; hospitalizations lag infections by weeks and do not report on people with mild or asymptomatic disease. Experience with other viral diseases has shown that monitoring sewage for traces of a pathogen enables effective surveillance of entire communities, providing a sensitive signal of whether the pathogen is present in the population and whether transmission is increasing or declining. Researchers around the world are now pursuing the same approach for COVID-19 with the hope that wastewater data can supplement current measures of its prevalence. The novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has already been detected in wastewater1,2. In this issue, Peccia et al.3 demonstrate that concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in primary sewage sludge tracked COVID-19 cases and hospital admissions during the early weeks of the outbreak in the New Haven, Connecticut, area. Departing from traditional methods of examining wastewater, they report a high-resolution dataset generated from sewage sludge rather than influent and apply statistical analysis to infer the lead time their data may provide over epidemiological indicators. Their results strengthen the evidence that wastewater monitoring could be a powerful tool in tracking the spread of COVID-19. | 09/18/2020 | Nat. Biotechnol | |||||||||||||||||
13 | Preprint | 2020 | Pruthvi Kilaru, David Larsen, David Monk | Design and utilization of homemade wastewater samplers during the COVID-19 pandemic | Engineering engrxiv | https://engrxiv.org/index.php/engrxiv/preprint/view/1201 | With recent interest in wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2, commercial composite samplers are on backorder. Further, their high cost can be prohibitive. Herein we present plans for a homemade wastewater sampler constructed from parts found routinely at hardware stores. | 9/2/20 | Engineering engrxiv | |||||||||||||||||
14 | Journal Article | 2020 | Pezzi, L., Charrel, R. N., Ninove, L., Nougairede, A., Molle, G., Coutard, B., Durand, G., Leparc-Goffart, I., de Lamballerie, X., & Thirion, L. | Development and Evaluation of a Duo SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR Assay Combining Two Assays Approved by the World Health Organization Targeting the Envelope and the RNA-Dependant RNA Polymerase (RdRp) Coding Regions | Viruses | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7354606/ | The recent emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) worldwide has highlighted the importance of reliable and rapid diagnostic testing to prevent and control virus circulation. Dozens of monoplex in-house RT-qPCR assays are already available; however, the development of dual-target assays is suited to avoid false-negative results caused by polymorphisms or point mutations, that can compromise the accuracy of diagnostic and screening tests. In this study, two mono-target assays recommended by WHO (E-Sarbeco (enveloppe gene, Charite University, Berlin, Germany) and RdRp-IP4 (RdRp, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France)) were selected and combined in a unique robust test; the resulting duo SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR assay was compared to the two parental monoplex tests. The duo SARS-CoV-2 assay performed equally, or better, in terms of sensitivity, specificity, linearity and signal intensity. We demonstrated that combining two single systems into a dual-target assay (with or without an MS2-based internal control) did not impair performances, providing a potent tool adapted for routine molecular diagnosis in clinical microbiology laboratories. | 06/25/2020 | Viruses | |||||||||||||||||
15 | News Article | 2023 | Betsy Ladyzhets | A Valuable Early-warning System for Disease Outbreaks Could Be Shut Down | Scientific American | https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-valuable-early-warning-system-for-disease-outbreaks-could-be-shut-down/ | The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS), which includes the majority of wastewater testing sites in the U.S., is “fully funded through 2025,” says Amy Kirby, director of the program. But after that, “new sources of sustainable funding” are needed, Kirby says, ideally through the CDC’s regular budget rather than resources tied to COVID. Uncertainty about money—along with logistical challenges and questions about how to interpret data from this relatively novel source—has made some state governments hesitant to invest in the technology, leading to an uneven national system. | 03/30/2023 | SciAm | |||||||||||||||||
16 | News Article | 2023 | New York State Department of Health | New York State plans to expand wastewater surveillance to combat infectious diseases | New York State Department of Health | https://www.health.ny.gov/press/releases/2023/2023-01-23_wastewater_surveillance.htm#:~:text=(January%2023%2C%202023)%20%E2%80%93,the%20spread%20of%20infectious%20diseases. | The New York State Department of Health today announced new investment to expand the State's nation-leading wastewater surveillance program, furthering New York's preparedness to combat the spread of infectious diseases. Wastewater surveillance, a process by which sewage samples (containing feces flushed down the toilet) are collected from treatment plants and sent to laboratories for testing, can provide early detection for both symptomatic and asymptomatic virus cases in a community, serving as an important indicator of disease burden within an area at any given time. Established in August 2021 to support the State's COVID-19 pandemic response, NYSDOH's Wastewater Surveillance Network has proven integral to the advanced tracking of COVID-19 and, more recently, to the detection of poliovirus in certain areas. | 01/23/2023 | NYSDOH | |||||||||||||||||
17 | News Article | 2023 | WSJ | For Future Viral Threats, Health Officials Look to Sewage | Wall Street Journal | https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-future-viral-threats-health-officials-look-to-sewage-11674365861 | For Future Viral Threats, Health Officials Look to Sewage: New York analyzes wastewater for flu, RSV and polio, in addition to Covid-19 | 01/22/2023 | WSJ | |||||||||||||||||
18 | Press Release | 2023 | NYSDOH | New York State Department of Health Announces Wastewater Surveillance Expansion and Increased Disease Monitoring Capabilities | New York State Department of Health | https://www.health.ny.gov/press/releases/2023/2023-01-23_wastewater_surveillance.htm | The New York State Department of Health today announced new investment to expand the State's nation-leading wastewater surveillance program, furthering New York's preparedness to combat the spread of infectious diseases. Wastewater surveillance, a process by which sewage samples (containing feces flushed down the toilet) are collected from treatment plants and sent to laboratories for testing, can provide early detection for both symptomatic and asymptomatic virus cases in a community, serving as an important indicator of disease burden within an area at any given time. Established in August 2021 to support the State's COVID-19 pandemic response, NYSDOH's Wastewater Surveillance Network has proven integral to the advanced tracking of COVID-19 and, more recently, to the detection of poliovirus in certain areas. | 01/23/2023 | NYSDOH | |||||||||||||||||
19 | News | 2022 | Charlotte Hsu-Buffalo | CAN TYLENOL IN WASTEWATER HELP TRACK COVID-19? | Futurity | https://www.futurity.org/tylenol-wastewater-covid-19-2760782/ | The results of their study, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters, suggest that measuring the concentrations of medicines in wastewater could add another layer to disease-monitoring efforts. Wastewater-based disease surveillance is being done worldwide through monitoring of viral RNA, says lead scientist Diana Aga, professor of chemistry and director of the University at Buffalo’s RENEW Institute. “The potential of complementing existing efforts with detection of pharmaceuticals is exciting. There are a lot of opportunities here, though more research is needed.” | 06/30/2022 | Futurity | |||||||||||||||||
20 | News Article | 2022 | Rachel Silberstein | Albany wastewater surveillance shows plunging COVID-19 levels | Times Union | https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Albany-wastewater-surveillance-shows-plunging-17234024.php | ALBANY — The drop in COVID-19 cases is showing up on wastewater screenings, with virus intensity dropping between 10 and 13 percent over two weeks in most Capital Region counties, according to the most recent data from the state's wastewater surveillance program. | 06/10/2022 | Times Union | |||||||||||||||||
21 | News Article | 2022 | Krystin Rae | Some New York wastewaters show increase in COVID-19 levels | NBC5 | https://www.mynbc5.com/amp/article/some-new-york-wastewaters-show-increase-in-covid-19-levels/40098096 | According to the New York state wastewater surveillance network, over the past two weeks, there has been 22% increase of COVID-19 levels in Peru's wastewater, a 21% increase in Saranac Lake’s and a 26% increase in Malone’s. “We’re still at a high level-so with that being said, our recommendation continues to be, if you’re going to be in a public indoor space make sure you continue to mask, you’re best defense against this is to be vaccinated,” says Debra Tackett, Clinton County director of health care services. | 05/24/2022 | NBC5 | |||||||||||||||||
22 | News Article | 2022 | Matt Butler | Diving into Ithaca’s wastewater…for the first COVID-19 trends | Ithaca Voice | https://ithacavoice.com/2022/05/diving-into-ithacas-wastewater-for-the-first-covid-19-trends/ | ITHACA, N.Y.—While available information about current COVID-19 levels has shrunk, the rate of infection itself has continued to fluctuate, seemingly settling into a cyclical ebb and flow of rising and falling infections every few months without an end in sight. | 05/10/2022 | Ithaca Voice | |||||||||||||||||
23 | News Article | 2022 | Rachel Silberstein | How wastewater surveillance could help New Yorkers live with COVID-19 | Times Union | https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Wastewater-screening-helped-eradicate-polio-For-17141695.php | Wastewater surveillance has become increasingly important for tracking COVID-19 in the last year as fewer people get swabbed for PCR tests, making case data less reliable. New York City was one of the first places in the U.S. to set up a sewage testing program, but the results have been hard to find. This story was published in partnership with Gothamist and the Documenting COVID-19 project, which is supported by Columbia University’s Brown Institute for Media Innovation and MuckRock. The project collects and shares government documents related to the COVID-19 pandemic and works on investigative journalism projects with partner newsrooms. It is not affiliated with Columbia professor Kartik Chandran’s lab. | 05/06/2022 | Times Union | |||||||||||||||||
24 | News Article | 2022 | Altamont Enterprise | Week CXI: As Albany County hits ‘high’ community level of COVID, masks are advised | Altamont Enterprise | https://altamontenterprise.com/04272022/week-cxi-albany-county-hits-high-community-level-covid-masks-are-advised | “As New York State’s nationally recognized public health laboratory, the Wadsworth Center is uniquely positioned to respond to public health emergencies as demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mary Bassett, the state’s health commissioner, in a statement. “This initial investment ensures the building of a state-of-the-art laboratory to continue and strengthen the expert analysis of disease specimens and environmental samples to protect the health of all New Yorkers.” | 04/27/2022 | Altamont Enterprise | |||||||||||||||||
25 | News Article | 2022 | John Cropley | Schenectady sewage plant among dozens helping track COVID pandemic | Daily Gazette | https://dailygazette.com/2022/04/16/schenectady-sewage-plant-among-dozens-helping-track-covid-pandemic/ | SCHENECTADY: Hidden within the millions of gallons of sewage flowing each day through the Schenectady wastewater treatment plant are microscopic clues about the direction the COVID pandemic is taking in the community. | 04/16/2022 | Daily Gazette | |||||||||||||||||
26 | News Article | 2022 | Observer Today | COVID-19 levels low wastewater of cities | Observer Today | https://www.observertoday.com/news/local-region/2022/04/covid-19-levels-low-wastewater-of-cities/ | The wastewater surveillance program is an early warning system for managing COVID-19 as we transition to an endemic phase,” said Public Health Director Christine Schuyler. “Ongoing global surveillance gives us a better sense of how to respond to outbreaks of this disease because we can’t play catch up. We have to be prepared – not to isolate and quarantine people – but to mobilize staff and resources such as testing availability, PPE, the healthcare and long-term care systems, vaccination efforts, and first responders. A wastewater surveillance program is an important epidemiological tool in the communicable disease prevention toolbox. | 04/02/2022 | Observer Today | |||||||||||||||||
27 | News Article | 2022 | Sarah Darmanjian | Wastewater testing for COVID in New York | News 10 | https://www.news10.com/news/coronavirus/wastewater-testing-for-covid-in-new-york/ | ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)- There are three local wastewater treatment plants participating in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) program to monitor wastewater for COVID-19. They do this by looking for COVID DNA markers in sewage water. | 03/30/2022 | News 10 | |||||||||||||||||
28 | News Article | 2022 | ABC7 NY | Concerns after spike in COVID-19 found in U.S. sewage systems | ABC7 NY | https://abc7ny.com/covid-sewage-coronavirus-in-systems-ba2/11653320/ | LONG ISLAND (WABC) -- There are concerns over a potential rise in COVID-19 cases as the CDC reports increased levels of the coronavirus detected in sewage systems across the United States. Nearly 40% of wastewater sampling sites reported at least some increase over the past 15 days, more than twice what it was a month ago. | 03/15/2022 | ABC7 NY | |||||||||||||||||
29 | News Article | 2022 | Nsikan Akpan | An omicron 'subvariant' is doubling in NY, just as mandates lift | Gothamist | https://gothamist.com/news/an-omicron-subvariant-is-doubling-in-ny-just-as-mandates-lift | Just as New York case rates drop and officials roll back health requirements for schools and businesses, another coronavirus variant is showing signs of derailing the state’s recovery from the winter COVID surge. Known as BA.2, this virus is an offshoot, or sublineage, of the omicron variant that just swept through New York State. It’s like a kid sister, and some experts even call it “Omicron 2.” But it spreads about 30% faster than its sibling — BA.1 — and is just as severe, according to the World Health Organization. | 03/07/2022 | Gothamist | |||||||||||||||||
30 | News Article | 2022 | Peter Murphy | UB to expand COVID-19 wastewater surveillance in WNY | State University of New York University at Buffalo | https://www.buffalo.edu/ubnow/stories/2022/02/covid-wastewater-testing.html | UB engineers will expand wastewater surveillance monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 in Western New York. Since late 2020, engineers have been working with Erie County to monitor the prevalence of the virus that causes COVID-19 in and around Buffalo. The effort buttresses data collected at hospitals and other health care providers that inform the region’s infection rate, and can serve as an early-warning system for changes in infection dynamics. Thanks to two recently announced partnerships — one led by the New York State Department of Health and Syracuse University, the other by Virginia-based Ceres Nanosciences — UB will have additional tools that will allow engineers to conduct more testing in a more efficient manner, including bringing wastewater monitoring to the region’s four other counties. | 02/08/2022 | University at Buffalo | |||||||||||||||||
31 | News Article | 2022 | Andrew Brown | Falling COVID counts in wastewater could signal end of omicron wave | Connecticut Mirror | https://ctmirror.org/2022/01/19/is-the-covid-wave-cresting-the-answer-is-in-the-sewage/ | Yale University researchers have been sampling wastewater plants in Connecticut since the early stages of the pandemic, and the latest numbers from that testing have one official “cautiously optimistic” the omicron wave has finally crested in the state. The recent data provide a clear example of the valuable insight that the sewage testing can provide to public health officials who are trying to deal with a pandemic that has stretched into its third year. But that type of analysis may not last much longer if Yale doesn’t find additional financing for its work. | 01/19/2022 | CT Mirror | |||||||||||||||||
32 | News Article | 2021 | New York State Governor’s Press Office | Governor Hochul Announces Department of Health Partnership with Syracuse University to Expand Innovative COVID-19 Surveillance in Wastewater | NY.gov | https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-announces-department-health-partnership-syracuse-university-expand-innovative | Governor Kathy Hochul today announced a new partnership between the New York State Department of Health and Syracuse University to continue its ground-breaking and innovative study to analyze wastewater for COVID-19. Wastewater surveillance can provide up to three to five days early warning that COVID-19 cases are increasing or decreasing in a community, and studies have shown that it can be used to detect variants of the virus through sequencing wastewater samples, once identified. | 12/16/2021 | NY.gov | |||||||||||||||||
33 | News Article | 2020 | Jay Cox | Wastewater Surveillance | Syracuse University | https://www.syracuse.edu/stories/wastewater-surveillance/ | Syracuse-based team of scientists targets novel coronavirus with an early warning system to help communities prepare for potential outbreaks. | 10/27/20 | Syracuse University | |||||||||||||||||
34 | News Article | 2020 | Syracuse University | University Scientists Selected to Implement COVID-19 Early Warning System in Upstate New York | Syracuse University | https://falk.syr.edu/covid-19-early-warning-system/ | The New York State Department of Health has selected the SARS-CoV-2 Early Warning Wastewater Surveillance Platform (SARS2-EWSP) to pilot a statewide coronavirus transmission early warning system. | 09/03/2020 | Syracuse University | |||||||||||||||||
35 | Presentation | 2022 | David A. Larsen, Mary B. Collins | Introduction to the New York State Wastewater Surveillance Network | Syracuse University: Center for Sustainable Community Solutions & Environmental Finance Center | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfV4NLG7wTo | Scientific breakthroughs show that levels of coronavirus genetic material in wastewater systems can provide an unbiased measure of coronavirus transmission for a community to guide public policy and response to the pandemic. This 1-hour webinar introduces the New York State wastewater-based epidemiology network. The network provides real-time monitoring of wastewater for coronavirus RNA. In collaboration with the New York State Department of Health and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Dr. David Larsen’s team is working to scale a wastewater surveillance network across New York State to aid the response to public health threats. By January 2022, this new network aims to include at least one wastewater treatment plant in each New York State county to monitor for COVID-19. Join us to learn more about the current progress for monitoring wastewater for public health benefit and ask questions about the network during a facilitated discussion. Wastewater treatment staff are encouraged to attend. Presenters: David A. Larsen, PhD MPH, Associate Professor and MPH Director, Falk College Department of Public Health, Syracuse University, and Mary B. Collins, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Studies, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry This webinar is organized by Syracuse University Falk College Department of Public Health and the SU Environmental Finance Center, and is co-sponsored by the New York Water Environment Association (NYWEA) and NYS Water Resources Institute. | 01/19/2022 | Syracuse University | |||||||||||||||||
36 | Presentation | 2022 | David A. Larsen | NYSPHA - New York State wastewater surveillance network | New York State Wastewater Surveillance Network | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6LNYDwi3aA&t=3527s | Talk given at the annual New York State Public Health Association meeting on April 28, 2022. Dr. Larsen presents the state's wastewater surveillance network, including the history and purpose of wastewater surveillance, efforts to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, and future directions. | 04/28/2022 | NYSWSN | |||||||||||||||||
37 | Presentation | 2021 | Larsen DA, Collins MB, Du Q, Hill D, Insaf TZ, Kilaru P, Kmush BL, Middleton F, Stamm A, Wilder ML, Zeng T. | Incorporating freedom from disease principles into wastewater surveillance to improve health security: a case study of SARS-CoV-2 | Syracuse University | https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16N_XtfzKOyYGso6F2X-i4bk3e1AkTAAI/edit?hl=en#slide=id.p1 | Wastewater surveillance – a pillar of health security | 1/1/21 | Syracuse University | |||||||||||||||||
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