Wastewater tests can find mpox, study finds. Expect more bugs to be tracked that way
ABC News
New research bolsters a push to use sewage to track more diseases in the U.S. Wastewater testing does a good job at detecting mpox infections
NEW YORK -- Wastewater testing does a good job at detecting mpox infections, U.S. health officials said in a report Thursday that bolsters a push to use sewage to track more diseases.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers found that over the course of a week, there was a 32% likelihood the tests would detect the presence of at least one person infected with mpox in a population ranging from thousands to millions.
Amy Kirby, who oversees the CDC’s wastewater surveillance work, said initially they didn't know if the tests would work for a rare infection like mpox.
"It turns out it worked really very well," she said.
The chance that the tests could detect infections rose as more people were infected. When there were 15 or more people infected in a community, there was a 76% chance wastewater testing could find mpox.
