Abstract
Wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 has been shown to be a valuable source of information regarding SARS-CoV-2 transmission and COVID-19 cases. Though the method has been used for several decades to track other infectious diseases, there has not been a comprehensive review outlining all of the pathogens that have been surveilled through wastewater. Herein we identify what infectious diseases have been previously studied via wastewater surveillance prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Infectious diseases and pathogens were identified in 100 studies of wastewater surveillance across 38 countries, as well as themes of how wastewater surveillance and other measures of disease transmission were linked. Twenty-five separate pathogen families were identified in the included studies, with the majority of studies examining pathogens from the family Picornaviridae, including polio and non-polio enteroviruses. Most studies of wastewater surveillance did not link what was found in the wastewater to other measures of disease transmission. Among those studies that did, the value reported varied by study. Wastewater surveillance should be considered as a potential tool for many infectious diseases. Wastewater surveillance studies can be improved by incorporating other measures of disease transmission at the population-level including disease incidence and hospitalizations.
Keywords: Wastewater surveillance, infectious disease surveillance, environmental surveillance
Contributor Information
Pruthvi Kilaru, Department of Public Health, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, United States; Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Des Moines, Iowa, United States.
Dustin Hill, Department of Public Health, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, United States; Graduate Program in Environmental Science, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, New York, United States.
Kathryn Anderson, Department of Medicine, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York, United States.
Mary B Collins, Department of Environmental Studies, State University of New York College of Environmental Science, Syracuse, New York, United States.
Hyatt Green, Department of Environmental Biology, State University of New York College of Environmental Science, Syracuse, New York, United States.
Brittany L Kmush, Department of Public Health, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, United States.
David A Larsen, Department of Public Health, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, United States.
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