County supports COVID-19 sewage testing by UA project

$220,000 in funding will cover lab setup for early warning venture

The Yuma County Board of Supervisors agreed to support a pilot project that would provide early warnings of COVID-19 outbreaks. The supervisors approved $220,000 in funding for the University of Arizona Yuma COVID-19 Early Warning Protection Project.

It’s enough money to set up a testing lab in Yuma by fall with the purpose of giving advanced warning of COVID-19 infections in local communities and the workforce.

Paul Brierley, director of the Yuma Center of Excellence for Desert Agriculture, presented the project Thursday and requested funds to start the program. The project would use “sewer surveillance” – otherwise known as wastewater-based epidemiology – to determine COVID-19

infections among various populations.

Brierley explained that wastewater testing provides positive readings seven to 10 days before symptoms show in a defined community, which would allow officials to allocate resources to specific areas with outbreaks, before symptoms show or traditional test results come back.

YCEDA and the UA Water and Energy Sustainable Technology (WEST) Center will set up a local laboratory to do sewage testing that would detect COVID-19 infections among a municipality, a school, a military base, a convalescent care facility, a hospital or even a farm labor crew by testing the outhouse waste connected to a single crew.

With help from the Yuma County Public Health District, the infected population would be alerted that one or more infected persons is among them, which could potentially minimize the spread during the ensuing week when no symptoms would be showing.

The budgeted cost for the first year is $1.1 million based on 100 test samples a week. The lab setup and equipment will cost $100,000 for the first year and another $100,000 in personnel cost for one year of sample collection and testing. Other costs include $780,000 for consumables at $150 a test and $98,000 for facilities and administration costs.

Funding could come from donations and contracts for testing, along with public support, Brierley said.

The county funding comes from the General Fund contingency budget. The CARES Act funding received from the state is required to be used exclusively to offset salaries for public health and safety employees, thereby freeing up General Fund money for other uses, a county staff report stated.

Brierley noted that coronavirus fears hit close to home, with Yuma a national hot spot for infections. The UA has been a significant contributor to the fight against COVID-19, and YCEDA has already been working to help reduce impacts on the Yuma community and agriculture workforce.

YCEDA received a donation from Jesus Tovar of the Somerton-based T&P Farms with a request that it be used to help the Yuma community get back to work.

“Basically he was asking, is there some way you can help Yuma County safely get back to work? It’s a pretty broad charge,” Brierley said.

YCEDA members brainstormed ways to put it to work for Yuma County. One of the ideas was using outhouse sewage testing for advance warning of COVID infection among farmworker crews.

A local lab would save the time and expense of sending samples to Tucson, Brierley noted.

The testing method could be made available to the broader community. “You’re getting a true picture of what’s happening,” he said. “Is the virus here, is it increasing, is it decreasing, what’s happening?”

He explained that sewage testing is a rapidly expanding practice because it monitors whole communities for a virus, and infections can be detected in sewage seven days before symptoms appear. However, it’s not a new technique. Sewage surveillance was used to detect polio one to two weeks prior to manifestation of symptoms.

“Poop doesn’t lie,” Brierley quipped.

ADDITIONAL BENEFITS With early detection of an infection, health officials have a week’s lead to prepare for a coming outbreak. They can increase testing, recommend more social distancing and seek additional personal protection supplies. A hospital can prepare for more patients a week or two before an onslaught. Members of an infected population can be quarantined.

In Yuma County, Brierley said, wastewater testing can be used to sample the sewage in cities and towns, schools, military bases, tribal nations and work crews who use portable toilets. If, for example, an infection is found in a 30-person work crew, before they spread it for a week, officials could test crew members, and buses and outhouses could be sanitized.

The lab will be set up in a month. It’s a timely project, according to Brierley. The agriculture season will kick off and schools might start in-person sessions in September and/or October. He noted the COVID-19 concerns with the reopening of schools among parents and educators.

YCEDA is also seeking funding from other public entities, including local municipalities and the tribal, state and national governments, and some of these have already expressed a willingness to support the project through

CARES Act and other funds and grants.

Brierley noted that Yuma and the Yuma Proving Ground have shown “serious interest.” Supervisor Russell McCloud, who first presented the project to the board Aug. 3, said he spoke with the governor’s office and they are “very enthusiastic about this.”

The balance could be made up with user testing fees and donations from the private sector. In particular, the agricultural industry supports the project, he added.

“We kind of see this as a pilot project, although it’s proven technology,” Brierley said.

If successful in Yuma, this “pilot project” could be replicated throughout Arizona, in California’s Imperial and Salinas valleys, and elsewhere. It may even be a startup business opportunity. This testing method could be adapted into other fields, such as detecting food safety pathogens and opioids.

Chairman Tony Reyes expressed his support due to the rapid results. He noted that contact tracing has always been a concern for him, because by the time someone gets results with current testing, that person has already been in contact with many people. He appreciates creating a lab that can handle testing relatively fast, he said.

Reyes also likes that it could help the farming community, which is the “largest industry, if not the largest,” in Yuma County, he added.

Supervisor Lynne Pancrazi expressed her support because of concerns with the reopening of schools. It would make a “huge difference in the number of children and staff that get infected,” she said.

Pancrazi added that the project might make winter visitors feel more secure coming to Yuma. Brierley agreed, noting that it has the potential of making the national news.

Pointing out the benefits to the county’s “No. 1 industry,” McCloud said that it would make field workers feel taken care of, he said.

Supervisor Darren Simmons urged the supervisors to get on board, noting that Yuma County has always been forward thinking.

Supervisor Martin Porchas abstained from voting because he works for UA Cooperative Extension, but he expressed his support for the project. He cited two top reasons: farmworkers and schools.

“It’s a crappy project, but it may work,” Reyes quipped.