Saturday, September 30, 2023
9/30/2023
Project Abstract. Wastewater testing is a valuable, cost-effective method for monitoring the health of a community and for providing early warning of disease and overdose outbreaks. Modern laboratory tests of community wastewater can identify at least 70 infectious disease agents including COVID, Hepatitis, HIV, Influenza, and RSV, as well as elements of antibiotic resistance and drugs of abuse. Increases in these products can serve as an early warning system to direct health care interventions. Importantly, wastewater testing detects asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic cases, and does not rely on health-care seeking behavior as it does not require testing of individuals. We recently established a network of over 25 sentinel sites to track community spread of COVID in West Virginia wastewater, covering approximately 20% of the state's residential population. Unfortunately, a lack of necessary infrastructure in more rural areas can hinder the widespread application of these public health tools. To augment our sentinel site program, we propose the design, development, and outfitting of a mobile wastewater-testing laboratory that can be rapidly deployed to track potential outbreaks of infectious disease or drugs of abuse in West Virginia communities and large-scale gatherings. Our mobile lab will enable rapid on-site sample collection, concentration, extraction, and genomic sequencing to identify potential disease threats both known and unknown. This mobile infrastructure will support improved delivery of health care to West Virginia's most vulnerable citizens.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
