The potential of wastewater-based epidemiology as surveillance and early warning of infectious disease outbreaks

Kang Mao; Kuankuan Zhang; Wei Du; Waqar Ali; Xinbin Feng; Hua Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.coesh.2020.04.006

The potential of wastewater-based epidemiology as surveillance and early warning of infectious disease outbreaks

Curr Opin Environ Sci Health. 2020 Oct:17:1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.coesh.2020.04.006. Epub 2020 May 11.

Authors

Kang Mao¹, Kuankuan Zhang¹, Wei Du², Waqar Ali¹, Xinbin Feng¹, Hua Zhang¹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 550081, PR China.
² Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science of the Ministry of Education, School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, PR China.

Abstract

Infectious diseases caused by pathogens have become one of the main threats to public health. Efficient monitoring of infectious disease transmission is critical to prevent and manage infectious disease epidemics. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is an efficient approach with great potential for early warning of infectious disease transmission and outbreaks. By analyzing infectious disease biomarkers in wastewater taken from wastewater collection points, the transmission of infectious diseases in certain areas can be comprehensively monitored in near real time. This short review presents WBE as a surveillance and early warning system for infectious disease outbreaks regarding pathogens with pandemic potential. We also discuss the challenges and perspective of WBE in infectious disease surveillance and early warning.

Keywords: Early warning; Infectious disease; Pathogen; Wastewater-based epidemiology.

Publication types

Review