Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Health Surveillance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Dallas County Health update: COVID, flu and wastewater surveillance rising; county monitoring avian flu case
Summary
Public health officials told the Commissioners Court Dallas is seeing increases in COVID and flu indicators, continues wastewater surveillance for multiple pathogens and is monitoring the first U.S. human fatality tied to avian flu reported in Louisiana.
Dallas County Health and Human Services briefed the Commissioners Court Jan. 7 on respiratory pathogens and wastewater surveillance, reporting rising indicators for influenza and COVID and continued monitoring for other pathogens including avian flu.
Dr. Philip Wong (Dallas County Health) said wastewater surveillance and other indicators show increases in COVID since early December and that flu test positivity had climbed to about 24.4% for the week ending Dec. 28, with 92 flu‑associated hospitalizations reported in that week. He noted no pediatric flu deaths had been recorded this season at the time of the briefing.
Wong also told the court the county is monitoring wastewater for multiple respiratory pathogens and has been an early site for surveillance of avian influenza detections in wastewater associated with agricultural activity. He referenced a recent Louisiana report of a human death linked to avian influenza in an older patient with comorbidities and said Dallas County was coordinating with the state on protective measures for higher‑risk workers (for example, dairy workers) and continuing public messaging about vaccination and standard respiratory precautions.
On monkeypox (mpox) and other vaccine‑preventable conditions, officials said case numbers remain low but noted targeted outreach for second‑dose completion and use of automated communications. The county is coordinating community vaccination clinics and pushing updated vaccine recommendations for respiratory pathogens.
Commissioners thanked health staff for surveillance work and encouraged continued public messaging and coordination with city and regional partners. The briefing included charts of wastewater and test‑positivity trends and an explanation of how wastewater sampling supplements clinical surveillance.
Provenance: Health director Dr. Wong’s presentation and Q&A are on the Jan. 7 transcript where wastewater, influenza, COVID and avian flu references appear.
