University of Arizona laboratories deepen collaboration

In March 2023, laboratory staff from the University of Arizona's Yuma Center for Excellence in Desert Agriculture (YCEDA) traveled to Tucson to spend a day with staff at the WEST Center. YCEDA and WEST technicians worked together to create a set of methods to be used for an expanding wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) program.

The overall process of WBE includes sample collection; sample preparation prior to nucleic acid extraction; nucleic acid extraction; and molecular detection. Both laboratory teams have extensive experience with wastewater analysis steps as well as the technologies used for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA. During their day together at WEST, three YCEDA staff and two WEST staff processed samples, integrating bead beating and dPCR into already-utilized approaches, to achieve a combination of WEST and YCEDA methods. Through their efforts and experimentation, the group selected techniques that were shown to yield the highest recovery of viruses. These techniques will be developed into a standard operating procedure available to staff at both locations.

The collaborative visit was part of a larger plan to deepen ties between YCEDA and WEST WBE teams; the two groups recently received state funding to build a combined and cooperative WBE program for the state of Arizona. This integrated program has a broader scope, aiming to monitor for additional targets (beyond SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19) as well as provide important and comparable WBE information for large portions of the state. Information will be utilized by public health decision makers at the county level (e.g., Pima County Health Department and Yuma County Health District) and state level (Arizona Department of Health Services, ADHS).