Pitkin County public health rolls out seasonal-illness campaign after wastewater spike; staff say more data needed

Pitkin County Public Health staff presented an updated strategic and communications plan and a seasonal respiratory-illness campaign at a Board of Health meeting; staff also reported a large, unexplained spike in Aspen wastewater COVID-19 levels and said follow-up testing is underway.

The department’s public-facing work this season emphasizes communications, community partnerships and vaccine outreach. "Our first strategic plan goal is to increase community engagement and awareness through communication of evidence based public health information," health promotion coordinator Katie Stetson told the board.

Why it matters: staff said flu and COVID-19 are co-circulating and that vaccination, targeted communications and clear local referral pathways remain core tools for protecting people at highest risk. The wastewater anomaly—measured at 9.6 million viral copies per liter in an Aspen sample—prompted reviews by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Public-health outreach and campaign details

Katie Stetson, the department’s health promotion coordinator, outlined the communications plan and current seasonal-illness campaign. The campaign uses print and Spanish-language ads in local papers, radio and digital buys. Staff said the campaign has produced the following digital metrics so far: about 200,000 English Google-display impressions generating roughly 2,400 clicks; about 56,000 Spanish impressions with approximately 654 clicks; Pandora and Spotify placements reached thousands of listeners with multiple ad exposures.

Stetson asked board members to volunteer as local "champions" to write periodic opinion pieces and to amplify social posts. She said the department will update its website for accessibility and Spanish-language access and manage county social accounts more actively.

Vaccination uptake and local distribution

Public health staff reviewed December vaccination data used to measure local uptake of the seasonal COVID vaccine and flu shots. "As of Dec. 4, 6.5 percent of Pitkin County residents had received the seasonal COVID-19 vaccine," a public health presenter told the board, adding that national comparators differ because of how denominators are calculated.

Staff reported that most local vaccine doses were administered by three local providers: City Market pharmacies (about half of locally administered doses), Aspen Valley Hospital and Community Health Services, with City Market branches in Aspen, Willits and Carbondale singled out.

Wastewater anomaly and investigation

Public health staff described a January wastewater sample from the Aspen Wastewater District that registered about 9.6 million viral copies per liter—well above prior local and state sample values. The presenter said the prior local record was roughly 2.8 million copies per liter and that most other statewide sites were reporting counts in the low hundreds of thousands.

Two main hypotheses are under investigation, staff said: a laboratory or sampling error somewhere in the chain, or a change in viral shedding that would produce higher wastewater concentrations without necessarily meaning more people are ill. "We do not know if it means that there is just more sick people. We do not know if it means that there is another variant. We don't know if it was just an accidental collection mishap, and only more data will tell," the presenter said. Staff said CDPHE and the CDC were following the data and that the next sample result was expected within days.

Board questions and next steps

Board members asked about correlating wastewater results with occupancy and visitor patterns; staff said occupancy data are available but do not yet explain the magnitude of the spike. A board member asked staff to provide monthly interim updates that summarize national and state CDC/CDPHE activity and local indicators between board meetings.

Ending

Staff framed the department’s role going forward as a communications hub that guides residents to available medical services rather than running mass vaccination or testing campaigns as that work moves into routine medical practice. The department said it will continue the seasonal-illness campaign, report follow-up wastewater results when they are available, and provide monthly briefings to the board.