Public health and wastewater practitioners, water utilities, academics
This webinar was organised by the IWA Wastewater-based Epidemiological Surveillance Cluster.
Wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 has gone viral during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many studies have highlighted the role of wastewater surveillance as an early warning system for disease emergence within communities and as an impartial assessment of virus circulation in various urban settings, including cities, neighbourhoods, institutions, buildings, and airports. Less attention has been paid to the opportunities and challenges of wastewater and environmental surveillance in non-sewered settings. These settings are very prevalent in many parts of the world. This webinar aimed to showcase good examples of the public health value of wastewater and environmental surveillance of infectious diseases in non-sewered settings, from polio, enteric bacterial pathogens, and antimicrobial resistance to respiratory viruses. During our webinar, we showcased concrete case studies and experiences drawn from low- and middle-income countries. Our goal was to inspire broader adoption of these cost-effective surveillance measures for public health through wastewater streams and environmental sites.
Following this webinar, participants should now be able to:
International Water Association