August 30, 2023 | Fort Collins, Colorado

Title: Wastewater Pathogen Monitoring Yields Timely, Actionable Data

Subtitle: Our interactive dashboard makes it easy to track national trends

Highlights

• Wastewater surveillance empowers timely and well-informed decisions in response to infectious disease outbreaks or drug abuse within communities.

• GT Molecular's new wastewater pathogen monitoring data dashboard features nationwide data with an interactive map, enabling trend analysis across regions with up-to-date information.

• Learn how to apply best practices in wastewater testing.

Jul 10, 2023 | Denver, Colorado

GT Molecular joined the burgeoning wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) field during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial validated molecular workflow stemmed from a local collaboration between academia and industry that culminated in a validated service offering spanning 44 states within the Continental United States. While the initial service offering included SARS-CoV-2 and all associated controls, wastewater began gaining traction as a viable sample to monitor additional pathogens including mpox, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus. Throughout the WBE expansion journey, we at GT Molecular learned how to quickly adapt workflows and assay development pipelines to accommodate various pathogens with unique features and characteristics.

During the presentation, Dr. Kane, GT Molecular' s Director of Research and Development, will outline various success stories resulting from wastewater data and will also discuss hard lessons learned during the expansion phase. The future of WBE from the direction and guidance of the CDC will also be explored. Ultimately, wastewater surveillance continues to proves a tractable and economic compliment to traditional, clinic-based epidemiology.

Jun 14, 2023 | Madeleine Johnson | GenomeWeb

NEW YORK – The US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention is moving forward on a planned expansion of the wastewater infectious disease surveillance efforts it pioneered during the pandemic.

Scaled up to surveil sewage from nearly half of the US population for SARS-CoV-2 transmission, the agency now plans to also track gastrointestinal, respiratory, and antimicrobial resistant pathogens through the rollout of two dozen digital PCR wastewater surveillance targets next year.

CDC's National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) is currently collaborating with molecular diagnostics developer GT Molecular to create the digital PCR assays, as well as multiplex dPCR panels. The goal is to make the assays available as methods and kits to partners in public health labs for testing.

INTRODUCTION

Monitoring the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, as well as other pathogens such as RSV and Influenza continues to provide vital information for interrupting chains of transmission and preventing or dampening the spread of new cases. Wastewater testing continues to gain traction as a viable means to monitor pathogens and provide timely information about the changing prevalence within individual communities. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) utility has already been successfully described to track infectious diseases like hepatitis, norovirus, and polio.

INTRODUCTION

Monitoring the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, as well as other pathogens such as RSV and Influenza continues to provide vital information for interrupting chains of transmission and preventing or dampening the spread of new cases. Wastewater testing continues to gain traction as a viable means to monitor pathogens and provide timely information about the changing prevalence within individual communities. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) utility has already been successfully described to track infectious diseases like hepatitis, norovirus, and polio.

Wastewater Surveillance: It Takes a Village

Signals in wastewater testing data can give hospitals and public health officials advance warning of an infectious disease outbreak. With this relatively simple "heads up," preparations can begin days before the first patient walks through the doors of a clinic.

Wastewater-based epidemiology has been in the public health toolbox for decades, but it only gained widespread recognition during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, many researchers, sanitation departments, and public health experts recently found themselves setting up robust wastewater monitoring programs for the first time.

In recent years, public health officials have affirmed the need for robust methods capable of proactive detection of pathogens to alert to outbreaks and limit spread of disease. Longitudinal studies using GT Molecular’s ddPCR™ PCR kits for Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) were demonstrated as capable and effective tools for SARS-CoV-2 outbreak monitoring and have recently been shown to be useful in detecting hMPXV (the virus responsible for human monkeypox).

Advantages of WBE:

• Provides community-wide temporal trends

• Near real-time data, depending on the analysis method

• Passive sample collection that does not required individual participation approval

Advantages of ddPCR technology for WBE monitoring:

• Fast analysis time

• Absolute quantification

• Sensitive enough to detect low copy numbers

• Tolerant to PCR inhibitors that are present in wastewater

When the first reports of the B.1.1.7 variant emerged in December, GT Molecular, a company in Fort Collins, Colorado, was the first to reformat its sewage test to search for the variant. That involves checking sewage for two mutations characteristic of the B.1.1.7 strain.