May 2020

The Ebel lab’s SARS-CoV-2 collaboration with CSU’s Healthy Aging Center was recently featured on CPR. With support from the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE), the coronavirus surveillance testing effort will soon expand rapidly to long-term care facilities around the state. From the article:

“The new study will help paint a picture of how COVID-19 spreads in complex facilities like residential nursing homes. Both state officials and researchers hope that the testing could mark a turning point in controlling COVID-19 in the beleaguered facilities.

Through this new effort, CDPHE and CSU will administer around 45,000 nose swab tests. These will be performed on staff members and some residents that are permitted to leave the facility during the lockdown for essential health appointments.

“The idea is to catch people as they become positive and then isolate them,” Erhart said.”

With thanks to CPR reporter Lindsay Fendt!

Dr. Emily Gallichotte was featured recently on CBS Denver’s “Good Question” segment. A listener asked whether SARS-CoV-2 could be transmitted through mosquito bites, and CBS Denver reached out to Dr. Gallichotte for more information. From the interview:

“In science we want to be very cautious. All of the evidence from WHO and CDC and every expert in the field says it is essentially no,” says post-doctoral research scientist Emily Gallichotte.

“Mosquitoes aren’t just syringes that transfer blood possibly with virus from one person to another. It takes that blood, it gets into their gut and then it has to survive seven days at least to make its way and replicate through the mosquito’s body and end up in the saliva to then be transferred to that next person.”

Find the full segment and more information on the CBS Denver website. With big thanks to Alan Gionet for giving our lab an opportunity to answer such timely questions!

The Ebel lab’s SARS-CoV-2 surveillance work in Colorado long-term care facilities has been featured in the Coloradoan. From the article:

“The facilities, used to taking precautions against things like seasonal flu outbreaks, seemed to be doing everything right. No visitors were allowed in. Employees of the five Denver metro area living communities were screened for coronavirus symptoms each day they reported to work. Management was following guidance from the state and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But as the test results came back, it became clear that dozens of infected workers were showing no symptoms at all. Of 462 employees tested in the first two months of the Colorado State University project, 57 people (about 12.3%) were coronavirus-positive but had no symptoms. The positive rate at the five facilities ranged between 1% and 23%.

“Most people in our study who are virus positive are not sick,” said Ebel, a CSU professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology whose lab processed the tests. “And they’re really virus-positive. They’re not just kind of, a little bit positive. There is no doubt that they’re very positive and capable of transmitting.””

Greg Ebel, left, and Nicole Ehrhart, right, are collaborating on a Colorado State University project to test asymptomatic employees of skilled nursing facilities for coronavirus. (Photo: Courtesy of Colorado State University)

With thanks to Coloradoan City Government Reporter Jacy Marmaduke!

The Ebel lab’s SARS-CoV-2 surveillance work in Colorado long-term care facilities has been featured in the Colorado Sun. From the article:

“A brainstorming call sparked the connection. Soon, Ehrhart and Ebel had a plan in place with Lakewood-based Vivage Senior Living to test workers at five Vivage facilities in Colorado. And, most importantly, they were going to test the workers over and over again.

“What is unique about this testing versus pretty much anything we’ve seen so far is we are testing people weekly,” Ehrhart said.

That would give the researchers insight into the virus’s spread and how long workers remain infected. It would give the facilities an early warning that a worker was sick and a precise idea when the worker could come back to work. Most importantly, it would help keep the facilities’ residents safe — and their staff.

“Health care workers are this really critical, finite resource that needs to be protected,” Ebel said.”

Research at CSU shows why testing only symptomatic people won’t stop coronavirus in Colorado

With big thanks to John Ingold!

The Ebel lab’s SARS-CoV-2 surveillance work in Colorado long-term care facilities has been featured in the Dallas Morning News. From the article:

“In Colorado, Connecticut and Washington such efforts have been underway, identifying asymptomatic carriers and isolating them so they will not spread the disease to coworkers or residents.

Over the last two months, a lab run by Colorado State University microbiology professor Greg Ebel tested 462 nursing home workers in Colorado to gauge whether workers without symptoms were silently carrying the virus. The lab identified 57 people who tested positive but had no symptoms.

“This kind of surveillance is extraordinarily valuable to these vulnerable communities to help reduce risks,” Ebel said.”

With thanks to Sue Ambrose, Allie Morris and Miles Moffeit.