Get STI testing today!

Most STIs are easy to treat, and testing is fast and easy.

Find STI Testing Near You

 

​

​Antibiotic-​Resistant Gonorrhea Surveillance Projects

California’s Antibiotic-Resistant Gonorrhea (ARGC) Center of Excellence is the online hub for information and resources on antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea to help health care providers and health departments prepare for and respond to antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea within California. For general information on gonorrhea, please see the CDPH STD Control Branch gonorrhea webpage.

Included below is a summary of the current CDPH STD Control Branch’s​ ARGC and gonorrhea surveillance project:  ​

• ​​​CARGOS

CARGOS

Combatting Antimicrobial Resistant Gonorrhea and Other STIs (CARGOS) began in 2024 with four strategies:

1. Strengthen local epidemiologic capacity to detect, monitor, and respond to AR in STIs.

2. To improve coordination of AR in STI preparedness and outbreak response activities.

3. Enhance local laboratory testing for surveillance, reporting, and response.

4. Enhance coordination between epi-lab-health information technology.

California Combatting Antimicrobial Resistant Gonorrhea and Other STIs Project (CA CARGOS) began in August 2024. The project is being conducted in collaboration with the San Francisco Public Health Department (SFDPH), San Francisco Public Health Lab (SFPHL), County of San Diego Health & Human Services Agency (CSDHSA), and the Orange County Health Care Agency (OCHCA).

CARGOS replaces the earlier legacy ARGC programs:

• Strengthening the United States Response to Resistant Gonorrhea (SURRG): a collaborative effort initiated in 2016 that emphasized rapid detection and response to drug-resistant gonorrhea in eight areas around the country; included California.

• Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project (GISP) and enhanced Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project (GISP): Established in 1886 to monitor US antibiotic resistance trends in gonorrhea.

CARGOS Partnerships

Currently, CARGOS is partnering with three STD clinics and three non-STD (community) clinics:

• San Francisco City Clinic (SFCC)

• Magnet (Strut)

• Ward 84/86 (San Francisco General Hospital)

• Planned Parenthood San Francisco Health Center

• San Diego Central Public Health Center

• San Diego South Public Health Center

• Orange County STD Clinic 17th Street Testing and Treatment

Future goals are expanding the project to include more STD and non-STD clinics across the state. All providers in California can test for gonorrhea and connect to the CDPH through their local public health department if they have a suspected treatment failure.

Both the San Francisco Public Health Lab and the CDPH Microbial Diseases Laboratory can conduct GC antimicrobial susceptibility testing through Etest. This enables rapid local detection of susceptibility and resistance among gonorrhea cultures.

CARGOS Health Equity

Health equity is achieved when everyone has an equal chance to be healthy regardless of race, ethnicity, income, gender, religion, sexual identity, and disability. As a public health entity, CDPH STDCB is aware of the impact of how and where individuals live, work, and access care plays a significant role in health outcomes. The most effective strategies to control a potential antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea outbreak must also address racial equity issues.

In order to contain the potential threat of a widespread antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea outbreak, we need to work together with local health jurisdictions and clinics to provide culturally competent and trauma-informed testing and care. We are working to ensure clinics that serve populations who have been historically disadvantaged and acquiring gonorrhea at higher rates have support from CARGOS. This will enable them to handle potential antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea outbreaks, increase their ability to perform cultures, and obtain access to antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

Additional Gonorrhea Projects

SSuN

The STD Surveillance Network (SSuN) is a collaborative network of state, county, and/or city health departments funded by the CDC to conduct sentinel and enhanced STD surveillance activities. The purpose was to improve the capacity of national, state, and local STD programs to detect, monitor, and respond to trends in STDs through the enhanced collection, reporting, analysis, visualization, and interpretation of disease information. The California Department of Public Health had been a collaborator with the STD Surveillance Network (SSuN) since 2009, the project ended in August 2024.