OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma State Department of Health, the Oklahoma City-County Health Department and the Tulsa Health Department have partnered with researchers at the University of Oklahoma and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center to monitor for several pathogens through wastewater surveillance.
“With the onset of COVID-19 we saw how wastewater surveillance was able to help predict potential surges or outbreaks of the virus in communities,” said State Epidemiologist Jolianne Stone. “We hope in the future this tool will be able to aid in the surveillance and monitoring of other pathogens.”
Pathogens monitored in wastewater include:
• Influenza.
• SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19).
• Salmonella (a bacterial disease that affects the intestinal tract and is acquired through contaminated food or water.
• Campylobacter (a bacterium that sometimes causes abortion in animals and food poisoning in humans).
• Norovirus (which causes an illness called gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines).
• West Nile virus (which is most commonly spread to people by the bite of an infected mosquito).
• Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, or STEC (bacteria which cause infections that most often cause severe diarrhea, stomach cramps and vomiting).
• And monkeypox (a viral disease similar to smallpox that can be spread between people or between people and certain animals and reportedly is present in 47 of the 50 states).
Additional pathogens may be added in the future, said Jason R. Vogel, professor of civil engineering and environmental science at the University of Oklahoma and director of the Oklahoma Water Survey.
Wastewater “surveillance” is already proving beneficial. Sewage sampling has helped health officials detect areas with high concentrations of the coronavirus, for example.
And most recently, polio was detected in New York City wastewater. Polio can result in permanent paralysis of the arms and legs and, in some instances, death. A vaccination provides protection from the virus.
“Currently we are collecting samples from 15 communities across Oklahoma,” he said: Lawton, Altus, Anadarko, Midwest City, Tuttle, Enid, Durant, Seminole, Ada, Sallisaw, Pryor, Miami, Bartlesville, Muskogee and Claremore.
“Ultimately we will have 30 cities in the network from across Oklahoma,” Vogel said. “We are in various stages of onboarding the other 15 sites, with the expectation that they will be added within the next month.”
Besides those 30 communities, “We also monitor four wastewater treatment plants in Oklahoma City and three wastewater treatment plants in Tulsa,” he said.
The survey’s SARS-COV-2 dashboard that shows the data from each city can be found online at https://www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/51657c21386d4f1a962b1853c76ec589.
“As we continue to onboard these new cities to the network, they will show up on this dashboard,” Vogel said.
Monitoring is completely anonymous; samples cannot be tracked back to a specific person, he said.
“Because this is a new program in many areas, data sets are not yet robust but are being collected continuously,” Vogel said. “It is important to remember this is a surveillance and monitoring tool. As we move forward, the information we learn will help us anticipate possible outbreaks and prepare accordingly.”
“Wastewater surveillance is another public health tool to help provide near real-time awareness of pathogens in our community,” said Tulsa Health Department Executive Director Dr. Bruce Dart. “As more data is collected over time, it helps to paint a more complete picture which can inform operational decisions at the local level.”