Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
State wastewater surveillance program briefed Alamosa council on disease monitoring and dashboard data
Summary
A CDPHE official described how wastewater sampling (twice-weekly) supplements clinical surveillance, listed pathogens monitored (COVID, flu, RSV, EBD68, mpox, measles, West Nile) and said Alamosa represents the San Luis Valley in the state's sentinel network; the program posts data publicly and reports results to utilities and local public health agencies.
Lisonbee Wheeler, who oversees Colorado’s statewide wastewater surveillance program, delivered a virtual briefing to the Alamosa City Council on how wastewater monitoring tracks disease trends across communities.
Wheeler said wastewater surveillance provides a “cost-effective and noninvasive” way to identify changes in community-level disease prevalence without relying on individual testing. She described the collection process—utilities collect wastewater samples and send them to the state lab twice weekly—lab staff concentrate and test samples, and a data team posts trends on a public dashboard.
Wheeler listed the program’s monitored targets and recent additions: COVID-19, influenza and RSV (added in 2023), EBD-68, mpox, measles (detected in October), and the program recently added West Nile to the dashboard and is piloting testing for antimicrobial-resistance genes and Candida auris. She noted the program can sometimes detect pathogens in wastewater before clinical cases are reported.
When Councilor Yan Liu asked how reporting works—"who reports to who?"—Wheeler said the state lab analyzes samples, reports results to the utility and the local public health agency, and posts the data on a public dashboard; she offered to help the city share dashboard data via Alamosa’s communications channels.
Why it matters: wastewater surveillance fills gaps in traditional case reporting, can provide early warning of emerging pathogens, and informs local public-health messaging and resource allocation. Wheeler encouraged local partners to consult the program’s dashboard and said Alamosa serves as the sentinel site representing the San Luis Valley in the state model.
Wheeler also thanked local utility partner Daniel Montano by name for his contributions to the program.
