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Healthy Central Valley Together

Healthy Central Valley Together
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Healthy Central Valley Together (HCVT) began in Summer 2021 when partnerships were established between public health departments, wastewater facilities, and researchers at the University of California campuses in Davis and Merced. Together, we are using wastewater to generate data on community prevalence of COVID-19, flu, RSV and other diseases that informs public health action in Merced, Stanislaus, and Yolo counties.

HCVT adopted the highly sensitive wastewater monitoring approach and methods developed by WastewaterSCAN based at Stanford University. The project also builds on the wastewater monitoring program of Healthy Davis Together (HDT).

Lead Researchers

Heather N. Bischel

University of California, Davis

Dr. Heather N. Bischel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Davis. Bischel’s research aims to support public and environmental health through safe and effective water and wastewater management. In 2020, Bischel launched the wastewater-based disease surveillance program of Healthy Davis Together (HDT), a collaboration between the City of Davis and UC Davis to combat COVID-19. HDT’s wastewater-based epidemiology program’s overall success has earned national recognition, including mentions in WIRED, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

Colleen Naughton

University of California, Merced

Dr. Colleen C. Naughton is an Assistant Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Merced. Her lab co-designs sustainable and culturally sensitive Food-Energy-Water Systems for the underserved nationally and globally. Dr. Naughton is the Principal Investigator behind the COVIDPoops19 global wastewater monitoring dashboard and Twitter account @COVIDPoops19. She is part of the Healthy Central Valley Together project expanding COVID-19 wastewater testing in the Central Valley of California for greater health equity. Dr. Naughton is also part of Wastewater SPHERE, a global data center for wastewater and SARS-CoV-2.

Relevant Research

  • The need of an environmental justice approach for wastewater based epidemiology for rural and disadvantaged communities: A review in California
  • Monitoring Wastewater To Inform COVID-19 Public Health Response: A guide to methods and lessons learned from Healthy Davis Together’s experience in Davis, CA
  • Wastewater surveillance for COVID-19 response at multiple geographic scales: Aligning wastewater and clinical results at the census-block level and addressing pervasiveness of qPCR non-detects

Media

ABC10

Wastewater testing in Yolo, Merced and Stanislaus counties to help stay ahead of next viral outbreak

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The Modesto Bee

Virus that brings severe vomiting, diarrhea found in Stanislaus. Here are steps to avoid it

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The California Aggie

Davis wastewater data shows increase in COVID-19

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Davis Enterprise

COVID wastewater levels in Davis higher than ever before

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Spectrum News 1

Wastewater testing has begun for other viruses in rural areas

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ABC30

Central CA partnership monitoring Merced County wastewater for RSV, flu

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Turlock Journal

Public health partnership monitoring wastewater for signs of flu and RSV

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Davis Enterprise

Flu, RSV levels now being monitored in wastewater

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PBS Newshour

How scientists use wastewater to track the spread of COVID

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The Modesto Bee

COVID-19 in real time: Residents of Modesto, Turlock, other cities can see data for free

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The BMJ

What poo tells us: wastewater surveillance comes of age amid covid, monkeypox, and polio

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KCRA-TV

Health experts say there's an undercount of COVID-19 cases due to more people using at-home tests

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The San Joaquin Valley Sun

Researchers find a new way to track COVID-19 waves: wastewater

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KHN

Health Officials See Bright Future in Poop Surveillance

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Newsy

California City Offers Free COVID Testing As Often As Residents Want

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The California Aggie

How sewage water can help track COVID-19

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Science

Signals from the Sewer

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Contact

General inquiries: [email protected]

Media inquiries: [email protected]

2023 © Healthy Central Valley Together