It’s in the Water: Pathogen Detection Sensors Monitoring Wastewater for Monkeypox

MonkeypoxBiosurveillanceWastewater
Written By Jade Hall

With almost 1000 new monkeypox cases emerging each day, the virus is spreading faster than we can handle. To hinder the spread, Kraken Sense is developing real-time monkeypox detection sensors to identify community infections ahead of current testing methods.

Positive test for monkeypox virus

While monkeypox is endemic in West and Central Africa, it has historically rarely appeared elsewhere.1 However, in the past few months, 87 non-endemic countries have reported outbreaks of the viral disease, leading the World Health Organization to declare monkeypox a global health emergency. As the number of confirmed cases in the US approaches 15,000 — more than a third of all global cases2 — the White House has also declared monkeypox to be a public health emergency.3

As cases continue to climb and vaccine demands exceed supply, disease monitoring becomes crucial to managing this outbreak.4 Kraken Sense is currently working on real-time monkeypox detection, ensuring contamination can be caught early on to prevent further spread.

Signs & Symptoms

Monkeypox is closely related to smallpox, sharing many of the same symptoms, albeit much less severe. The characteristic symptom of monkeypox is a skin rash, which tends to concentrate on the face, hands, and feet, and less commonly, the genitalia. The rash may initially appear as pimples or blisters, evolving from raised lesions to pustules before they scab and fall off.1

Other symptoms may include: 1, 5

  • Fever
  • Chills
  • Swollen lymph nodes
  • Intense headache
  • Muscle aches and back pain
  • Lack of energy
  • Respiratory symptoms (e.g. sore throat, nasal congestion, cough)

While the skin rash typically appears within 1-3 days of fever, some people develop the rash first and others don’t experience any non-rash symptoms at all. After an incubation period of 5-21 days, symptoms typically last 2-4 weeks.1

Monkeypox lesions on a person's wrist and hand

How Does Monkeypox Spread?

Monkeypox can spread in 3 ways:6

  • Person to person
  • Direct contact with contaminated objects
  • Animal to human

Person to person

Monkeypox spreads from person to person through contact with an infected person’s lesions or scabs. Current evidence also suggests that the virus can spread through contact with an infected person’s bodily fluids such as blood, saliva, or semen, as well as respiratory secretions from talking, breathing, coughing, or sneezing. Thus, infection pathways may include: 6, 7

  • Sexual contact, including oral, anal, and vaginal sex as well as non-penetrative contact
  • Prolonged face-to-face contact
  • Providing care
  • Living in the same household

Contaminated objects

Monkeypox can also spread through direct contact with personal objects used by an infected person, such as: 6

  • Clothing
  • Bedding
  • Towels
  • Utensils
  • Needles
  • Toothbrushes
  • Sex toys

Animal to human

Finally, humans can contract monkeypox through direct contact with an infected animal, such as a bite or a scratch. While African rodents are suspected to be the primary animal source of monkeypox, other mammals may also be susceptible to the virus.8

Wastewater Surveillance

In light of 2022 monkeypox outbreak, Kraken Sense is currently developing pathogen detection sensors that will be able to identify monkeypox contamination in real time.

During an infectious disease outbreak, monitoring wastewater for human pathogens can provide an outlook on the true virus presence in communities. Wastewater surveillance becomes even more crucial for monkeypox when considering the current testing situation: PCR results can take up to 2 days9 , patients can only be tested if they have active lesions, and access to testing is limited in many areas. Since lesions only appear 1-3 weeks after a person has been infected, wastewater data could be used to identify monkeypox infections and track community spread much earlier.10

If an individual has an active monkeypox infection, they may shed the virus through their bodily fluids, skin, and hair, all of which eventually end up in sewage systems during waste elimination and cleaning.11 High levels of contamination in one area may indicate a community outbreak, so early detection is paramount to implementing appropriate intervention measures and allocating resources ahead of time.

With continuous sampling and results available in just 30 minutes, KRAKEN detection sensors will be able to identify monkeypox outbreaks immediately. The automated platform can be connected inside any processing facility or in sewer mains to collect regiospecific data, alerting of active monkeypox cases within a community before they spread.

Aerial view of wastewater treatment plants

About Kraken Sense

Kraken Sense develops all-in-one pathogen detection solutions to accelerate time to results by replacing lab testing with a single field-deployable device. Our proprietary device, the KRAKEN, has the ability to detect bacteria and viruses down to 1 copy/mL. It has already been applied for epidemiology detection in wastewater and microbial contamination testing in food processing, among many other applications. Our team of highly-skilled Microbiologists and Engineers tailor the system to fit individual project needs. To stay updated with our latest articles and product launches, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram, or sign up for our email newsletter. Discover the potential of continuous, autonomous pathogen testing by speaking to our team.

Jade Hall
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