As California tops the nation in the number of MPX (monkeypox) cases, GT Molecular and the City of Palm Springs are fighting back by extending their partnership to help track the prevalence of the virus.
"As MPX continues to spread, rapid detection in wastewater samples is necessary to quickly enact policies that aim to slow the spread of the virus and protect the community from future obstacles,” City of Palm Springs Principal Engineer Donn Uyeno said in a news release. “We expect this service will continue to be of great help to our public health officials.”
Their effort means the latest results are now posted on the city website’s MPX information page. Residents can anticipate new results every Monday as they use the site to monitor updates, according to the city.
Over the past two years, Palm Springs has successfully partnered with GT Molecular to test and monitor COVID-19 wastewater levels in the community. On behalf of the city, Uyeno oversees this partnership, which promotes well-informed public health decisions. That's because regular testing of wastewater helps public health officials understand trends in community-wide levels of viruses such as COVID-19 and MPX, the city website said.
As of Wednesday,16,603 cases of monkeypox have been identified in the U.S., including 3,068 cases in California, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This puts California at the top of the nation in occurrences, followed by New York with 3,038 cases.
The symptoms of monkeypox include a rash near the genitals, anus, hands, feet, chest, face or mouth, the CDC said. Other symptoms include fever, chills, swollen lymph nodes, exhaustion, muscle aches and backache, headache, sore throat, cough and additional respiratory issues.