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Ohio COVID-19 Wastewater Monitoring Network
Citation:
Garland, J., B. Smith, Z. Bohrerova, AND R. Fugitt. Ohio COVID-19 Wastewater Monitoring Network. Presented at Ohio Department of Health, Cincinnati, OH, October 21, 2020.
Impact/Purpose:
Provide an update on the technical and logistical details of the Ohio Wastewater Coronavirus Monitoring system to participating utilities and local health agencies.
Description:
Widespread studies conducted national and globally indicate that genes specific to the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be detected in wastewater. The ability to collectively sample both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals has lead dozens of state, cities, and universities to actively monitor wastewater to inform public health decisions. The clarity in the wastewater’s reflection of viral load within the community can be distorted by several factors, including variation in analytical detection methods, decay and dilution of the genes during wastewater transport, and imprecision in relating the wastewater signal to other, imperfect measures of community infection rates. This webinar focuses on the ORD research team’s collaborative efforts to reduce uncertainty across these three areas, including method development within our lab, application in sewersheds with distinctive levels of industrial and stormwater impacts within the Cincinnati Metropolitan Sewer District , and development of a wastewater surveillance system in Ohio in support of the State Department of Health.