蜜桃影像 Participates in Vital NJ Department of Health Wastewater Surveillance Program
January 8, 2024
HCCC is the only community college participating in the program to monitor the area鈥檚 wastewater for dangerous particulates.
January 8, 2024, Jersey City, NJ 鈥� 蜜桃影像 (HCCC) is proud to participate in The New Jersey Department of Health鈥檚 (NJDOH) Wastewater Surveillance Program, which is part of the larger Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) program.
The NJDOH Communicable Disease Service (CDS) and the Public Health and Environmental Laboratories (PHEL)鈥攊n partnership with wastewater treatment facilities, the CDC, and local health departments鈥攁re expanding the statewide wastewater surveillance program to include targeted surveillance at New Jersey higher education institutions.
The program's mission is to identify whether there are traces of any particulates in the wastewater that might point to the presence of communicable diseases in the area, such as COVID-19, smallpox, influenza, and polio.
Chemistry Instructor Raffi Manjikian is leading 蜜桃影像鈥檚 wastewater surveillance initiative.
As part of the program, wastewater samples are collected twice a week. The samples are sent to the NJDOH for testing. Then, the data obtained from these samples is sent back to HCCC and forwarded to the CDC, helping to safeguard the community against these dangerous diseases.
Wastewater testing can serve as an early warning signal for new cases in an at-risk area and as a cost- and time-efficient screening approach to complement individual testing. This can be of particular benefit to the institution as it can aid in detecting present diseases, provide early warning to guide policies and procedures, and allow officials to view the data in an organized report.
The NJDOH invited all New Jersey higher education institutions, both two-year and four-year, to participate in this program. 蜜桃影像 (HCCC) is the only community college participating in this project, joining four-year institutions like Princeton University and Rowan University.
HCCC鈥檚 participation in the program is the latest example of the College鈥檚 ongoing initiative to forge partnerships with local, state, regional and national agencies.
The project commenced in October 2023 and will last at least two years. Dr. Burl Yearwood, Professor Raffi Manjikian, Dr. Fatma Tat, and Faiza Fayyaz contributed to this ongoing and crucial project.
HCCC President Dr. Christopher Reber stated, 鈥淭his is yet another example of how community colleges like HCCC can collaborate with local, state, and federal agencies to be part of the solution for community health.鈥� Professor Raffi Manjikian, who leads the efforts, agrees that taking part in the initiative 鈥渆xemplifies how academia can work hand in hand with government agencies to help make informed and data-driven decisions on public health.鈥�
Commenting on HCCC鈥檚 inclusion in the initiative, Dr. Burl Yearwood, Dean of the School of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) stated, 鈥淭he School of STEM is happy to participate in this project. The Wastewater Surveillance program allows us to use our technical expertise to benefit the College and our local community. We are pleased to be able to contribute health data to the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) that allows them to monitor the risk of disease in Jersey City.鈥�