Ohio Coronavirus Wastewater Monitoring Network: Implementation of Statewide Monitoring for Protecting Public Health.

CONTEXT: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, wastewater influent monitoring for tracking disease burden in sewered communities was not performed in Ohio, and this field was only on the periphery of the state academic research community. PROGRAM: Because of the urgency of the pandemic and extensive state-level support for this new technology to detect levels of community infection to aid in public health response, the Ohio Water Resources Center established relationships and support of various stakeholders. This enabled Ohio to develop a statewide wastewater SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) monitoring network in 2 months starting in July 2020. IMPLEMENTATION: The current Ohio Coronavirus Wastewater Monitoring Network (OCWMN) monitors more than 70 unique locations twice per week, and publicly available data are updated weekly on the public dashboard. EVALUATION: This article describes the process and decisions that were made during network initiation, the network progression, and data applications, which can inform ongoing and future pandemic response and wastewater monitoring. DISCUSSION: Overall, the OCWMN established wastewater monitoring infrastructure and provided a useful tool for public health professionals responding to the pandemic.

Geospatial Patterns of Antimicrobial Resistance Genes in the US EPA National Rivers and Streams Assessment Survey.

Antimicrobial resistance (AR) is a serious global problem due to the overuse of antimicrobials in human, animal, and agriculture sectors. There is intense research to control the dissemination of AR, but little is known regarding the environmental drivers influencing its spread. Although AR genes (ARGs) are detected in many different environments, the risk associated with the spread of these genes to microbial pathogens is unknown. Recreational microbial exposure risks are likely to be greater in water bodies receiving discharge from human and animal waste in comparison to less disturbed aquatic environments. Given this scenario, research practitioners are encouraged to consider an ecological context to assess the effect of environmental ARGs on public health. Here, we use a stratified, probabilistic survey of nearly 2000 sites to determine national patterns of the anthropogenic indicator class I integron Integrase gene (intI1) and several ARGs in 1.2 million kilometers of United States (US) rivers and streams. Gene concentrations were greater in eastern than in western regions and in rivers and streams in poor condition. These first of their kind findings on the national distribution of intI1 and ARGs provide new information to aid risk assessment and implement mitigation strategies to protect public health.