OMAHA, Neb. — The College World Series and the FIFA World Cup are coming to the Midwest this summer, bringing an influx of visitors to Omaha.
Because of the expected crowds, the board of health has a plan in place to catch diseases before they spread by testing wastewater.
Douglas County Board of Health Director Lindsay Huse said officials want to be prepared for additional visitors from around the world visiting the region, especially with Kansas City hosting World Cup matches. Omaha already greets thousands of visitors every year for the College World Series.
"We're expecting that there could be quite an increase, not just in domestic but in international travel through the area. So we felt that increased surveillance was something that was going to be extremely important," Huse said.
The wastewater testing kits are from Wastewater Scan, a program based out of Stanford University with two sites in Lincoln. The kits are used at treatment facilities to test for traces of diseases like the flu, COVID and measles in the water.
Huse clarified these tests will not specify who is infected, but just tell officials the disease is present somewhere in the neighborhoods.
"That is great information that we can share with physicians in our primary care, urgent care, and emergency departments," Huse said.
The state stopped reporting wastewater surveillance in August 2023 after the federal COVID national emergency ended.
Huse said sampling will start once they get the testing kits from Wastewater Scan.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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