Using knowledge to fight a growing threat, the City of Palm Springs has teamed up with GT Molecular to monitor city wastewater for monkeypox, according to a recent tweet.
"The city is working with GT Molecular to provide weekly wastewater samples to monitor monkeypox virus in the community," the Palm Springs website reports. "Recent testing has confirmed the detection of monkeypox virus in Palm Springs wastewater."
When examining this information, it's best to view it as "just a snapshot in time," using the info to spot trends, rather than indicate a specific number, the site said. For example, the data could be used to identify consecutive weeks of an increase or decrease in the virus.
Palm Springs isn't the only city in the valley that is monitoring its wastewater; Indio, as well as portions of both Coachella and La Quinta, has adopted the same strategy against monkeypox.
NBC Palm Springs reports that Valley Sanitary District also checks wastewater for monkeypox presence, extending its monitoring to Indio and a small portion of Coachella and La Quinta. Results for Indio, Coachella and La Quinta are expected to be available this week. By monitoring city wastewater, the county is better able to identify monkeypox in communities that may not be on their radar at this time, NBC reports.
Beverli Marshall, general manager of Indio-based Valley Sanitary District, told NBC Palm Springs, "People generally don't get tested until they have symptoms or if they've been exposed, but by then it's already in their system."
According to Riverside University Health System—Public Health monkeypox surveillance data, Palm Springs topped the county in monkeypox cases, totaling 79 as of Aug. 24. Based on the same data set, Indio has fewer than five cases and La Quinta and Coachella don't have any reported cases.
As mentioned previously, monitoring the wastewater for cities with no reported monkeypox cases can allow the county to be sure they are virus free.
Meanwhile, the county-wide case count rose by 30 on Aug. 24, bringing the total to 158 confirmed cases, according to Riverside University Health System.