Washington, DC, July 1, 2024 – The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is pleased to announce the selection of two mentor and four mentee local health departments for the 2024 Wastewater Surveillance Mentorship Program. The program, now in its third year, is providing a total of $62,790 to support local health departments in implementing and expanding their wastewater surveillance efforts to detect SARS-CoV-2 (the virus known to cause COVID-19), influenza A and B, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and others.

The mentor local health departments have demonstrated experience in utilizing wastewater surveillance to monitor infectious diseases. NACCHO matches mentors with mentee local health departments seeking guidance, tools, and resources to navigate the early stages of developing a wastewater surveillance program.

The awardees are:

Mentor: Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department, Nebraska ($12,000)

Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department (LLCHD) serves over 300,000 residents in the city of Lincoln and Lancaster County in Nebraska and has conducted testing at two wastewater treatment plants in their jurisdiction since 2021. LLCHD partners with BioBot and WastewaterSCAN to test for SARS-CoV-2, influenza A and B, RSV, Mpox, and others. In addition, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services conducts limited testing in their jurisdiction for the statewide network.

In their three years of experience, LLCHD has developed strong expertise in many aspects of wastewater surveillance, including using data for decision-making and communications and building partnerships with wastewater utilities, laboratories, and governmental agencies. They will mentor Emmet County Public Health and Shelby County Health Department as they develop their wastewater surveillance programs.

Mentor: San Mateo County Health, California ($12,000)

San Mateo County Health (SMCH) represents a large area in the Silicon Valley region of California, with 20 cities, towns, and census-designated places. Through WastewaterSCAN, SMCH tests for 13 pathogens at four of their wastewater treatment plants, while the San Mateo County Public Health Lab tests for four pathogens at three additional plants.

Previously a mentee in NACCHO’s mentorship program, SMCH has proven experience establishing and expanding wastewater testing, as well as developing wastewater surveillance communication plans and protocols. Returning as a mentor, the SMCH will support Jackson County Public Health and Southern Nevada Health District by offering technical guidance, sharing tools and resources, hosting site visits, and recommending best practices for overcoming challenges.

Mentee: Emmet County Public Health, Iowa ($8,791)

Emmet County Public Health (ECPH) serves the small jurisdiction of Emmet County in Iowa. Since 2023, they have collaborated with the City of Estherville Wastewater Management and the Iowa State Hygienic Laboratory to conduct wastewater testing twice weekly, initially starting with SARS-CoV-2 and eventually expanding to include influenza A and B. ECPH receives wastewater testing results from the laboratory and are looking for guidance in understanding these reports to make informed public health decisions. During their time in the mentorship program, the local health department leaders plan to train their staff to understand wastewater testing reports and develop communications tools (including a webpage and public notices) for sharing wastewater surveillance information with the community, nursing homes, healthcare facilities, school districts, and manufacturing plants within the jurisdiction.

Mentee: Jackson County Public Health, Missouri ($9,999)

Jackson County Public Health (JCPH) represents the medium-sized jurisdiction of eastern Jackson County, Missouri, which is defined as all areas of Jackson County outside of Kansas City. In 2023, they identified a need for community-level wastewater surveillance in their jurisdiction, recognizing that it is an important and complementary surveillance tool for monitoring and responding to diseases. Currently, wastewater testing is conducted once a week for SARS-CoV-2 through the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services at one wastewater treatment plant, but JCPH would like to expand the number of pathogens tested, frequency of testing, and wastewater treatment plant coverage. They have been in the planning stages of building a wastewater surveillance program to monitor respiratory viruses (e.g., SARS-CoV-2, influenza A and B, and RSV) and are working on building partnerships with wastewater treatment plants and laboratory capacity for wastewater testing. Through the mentorship program, they are looking to learn from an experienced wastewater surveillance program, develop a wastewater surveillance implementation plan, and build laboratory capacity.

Mentee: Shelby County Health Department, Tennessee ($10,000)

Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) serves a large jurisdiction in Tennessee that includes the city of Memphis and its surrounding suburbs. Wastewater surveillance efforts began in Shelby County in 2021, and currently, wastewater testing is conducted at two wastewater treatment plants in the city of Memphis, leaving out roughly one-third of residents living in suburban areas. SCHD is planning collaboration with six suburban wastewater treatment plants, and with support from the mentorship program, would like to expand the number of sample sites within the city of Memphis. SCHD is also seeking to develop summary dashboards or reports to better compile their multiple wastewater surveillance data sources.

Mentee: Southern Nevada Health District, Nevada ($9,999)

Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) serves more than 2.3 million residents in southern Nevada including the city of Las Vegas, which is equivalent to 73% of the state’s population. Currently, they utilize wastewater surveillance data from CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System, WastewaterSCAN, and BioBot. Previously, with funding from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the Southern Nevada Water Authority, SNHD implemented a wastewater surveillance program at eight locations including wastewater treatment plants, schools, and Harry Reid International Airport. With NACCHO’s mentorship program, SNHD is looking to maintain wastewater surveillance efforts through in-house testing at Southern Nevada Public Health Lab, allowing the local health department more flexibility to use wastewater surveillance as a tool to monitor emerging infectious diseases.

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NACCHO and Wastewater Surveillance

Since 2022, NACCHO has granted more than $85,000 in funding to U.S. local health departments to implement and expand localized wastewater surveillance infrastructure. NACCHO’s latest mentorship program report, featuring best practices from past cohorts, can be found here.

For more resources related to wastewater surveillance, visit NACCHO’s webpage.

About NACCHO 
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the over 3,300 local governmental health departments across the country. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities. For more information, visit www.naccho.org.