Is Monkeypox Lurking in Your Local Wastewater in Washington?

Over the past four weeks, lab scientists in Washington state have been checking to see if there’s any traces of Monkeypox in our sewers.

This is good news to know because if you haven’t heard, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared Monkeypox a public health emergency in some parts of the world.

We want to make sure we don’t have another worldwide pandemic on our hands, so lab specialists in Washington have been going through samples of wastewater in some 29 testing sites in certain counties across the state.*

How Can Lab Scientists Tell if Monkeypox Is in Our Wastewater?

Here’s how we can find out what diseases lurk in your our community: If you are sick with a virus or bacteria that has been labeled a public health risk (such as Monkeypox, Covid-19, etc.), scientists will be able to detect it in all the mixture of bowel movements that end up in your sewers. (Sorry for the visual!)

Scientists and officials from the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) are on the alert for any traces of the Monkeypox genetic material (viral DNA) in the United States (see below).

It is important to note that these sewer water samples are being submitted on a voluntary basis; no county officials are being forced to do so.

*No detection: Mpox virus was not detected in any samples from the site in the past 4 weeks OR the most recent detection was more than 2 weeks ago. - Centers for Disease Control

*Wastewater testing is not done on septic systems, so some areas within counties would not be included in the lab tests.

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This article has been updated to correctly reflect the World Health Organziation as the organization that has declared the spread of Monkeypox as a global concern.

Monkeypox Wastewater Testing: A County-by-County Breakdown