Early-warning system to protect and promote human health and inform Houston’s response to viral outbreaks
A lot of progress has been made to protect and promote human health with the most notable result being increased life expectancy. Yet, the emergence of prominent outbreaks of infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance have remained as critical threats to global public health today.
To address the challenge of anticipating and responding to prominent outbreaks of infectious diseases, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Houston Wastewater Epidemiology has implemented a comprehensive, cost-effective system to monitor community infection dynamics of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19. We are also working to expand the comprehensive wastewater monitoring system to target influenza, mpox, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and other pathogens.

Surveillance has expanded from 20 to 53 jurisdictions across the United States
Technology shows promise for broad-scale analysis of pathogens
How Houston’s public health interventions have been guided by wastewater
New features help Houstonians understand the prevalence of COVID-19, influenza at the community level
- October 2023
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October 16
California Polytechnic State University, Department of Mathematics
4:00 p.m.Online trend estimation and detection of trend deviations in sub-sewershed time series of SARS-CoV-2 RNA measured in wastewater
Julia Schedler, Ph.D.
Statistician, Houston Wastewater EpidemiologyOctober 19
Texas Epidemic Public Health Institute (TEPHI)
Texas Public Health SummitKathy Ensor, PhD
Noah G. Harding Professor of Statistics, Rice UniversityDavid Persse, MD, FACEP, FAEMS
Public Health Authority & EMS Director City of Houston
Professor, Baylor College of MedicineLauren Stadler, PhD
Assistant Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Rice University - November 2023
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- December 2023
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- January 2024
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