Combatting Antimicrobial Resistant Gonorrhea and Other STIs (CARGOS)

Key points

The Combatting Antimicrobial Resistant Gonorrhea and Other STIs (CARGOS) project allows CDC and state and local health departments to monitor trends in antimicrobial-resistant (AR) gonorrhea and other STIs in the U.S. It is intended to strengthen state and local capacity to rapidly detect and respond to threats of resistance.

Overview

The purpose of the Combatting Antimicrobial Resistant Gonorrhea and Other STIs (CARGOS) project is to monitor trends in antimicrobial-resistant gonorrhea and other STIs in the U.S. It is intended to strengthen state and local capacity to rapidly detect and respond to threats of AR. CARGOS is funded via CDC's Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases (ELC) Cooperative Agreement.

Strategies

There are four CARGOS strategies. Each strategy includes required activities, and some include optional activities.

Strategy 1 - Strengthen Capacity

Strategy 1 of CARGOS is to strengthen local epidemiologic capacity to detect, monitor, and respond to AR in STIs.

Within strategy 1, the four required activities are:

  1. Improve surveillance and reporting of male urethral gonorrhea in STI clinics.
  2. Improve surveillance and reporting of male and female pharyngeal gonorrhea in STI clinics.
  3. Enhance workforce capacity to detect, monitor, and respond to AR in STIs.
  4. Conduct rapid & robust investigations when concerning isolates are identified.

Optional activities in strategy 1 are:

  1. Improve surveillance and reporting of gonorrhea from populations where AR is likely.
  2. Improve surveillance and reporting of male rectal gonorrhea in STI clinics.
  3. Sustain monitoring of Neisseria meningitidis male urethral isolates.
  4. Enhance surveillance and reporting of STIs with emerging AR.

Strategy 2 - Improve Coordination in Preparedness and Outbreak Response

Strategy 2 of CARGOS is to improve coordination of AR in STI preparedness and outbreak response activities.

Within strategy 2, the three required activities are:

  1. Establish/refine statewide AR in STI response infrastructure and protocols.
  2. Develop/maintain a state and/or local jurisdiction outbreak response plan.
  3. Conduct at least one preparedness exercise to practice the outbreak response plan.

Strategy 3 - Enhance Local Lab Testing

Strategy 3 of CARGOS is to enhance local laboratory testing for surveillance, reporting, and response.

Within strategy 3, the required activity is to:

  1. Establish or enhance gradient strip antimicrobial susceptibility capacity via Etest.

The optional activity within strategy 3 is to:

  1. Conduct a molecular assay to detect markers of cephalosporin resistance using a CDC-provided real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay.

Strategy 4 - Enhance Coordination in Information Technology

Strategy 4 of CARGOS is to enhance coordination between epi-lab-health information technology.

Within strategy 4, the two required activities are to:

  1. Improve data management and quality through regular assessment of data and implementation of processes to improve data quality, completeness, and timeliness.
  2. Improve data and information flow by developing strategies for data flow from local and state agencies for managing isolates of concerns, and supporting linkage of data systems (including lab, clinical, and epidemiological data).

Currently Funded CARGOS Jurisdictions (2024-2025)

In the first year of the project, CDC has awarded a total of $6.5 million to the following recipients:

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Content Source:
National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention; About Division of STD Prevention