The physical space of the MSK Library is permanently closed to visitors as of Friday, May 17, 2024. Please visit this guide for more information.
The physical space of the MSK Library is permanently closed to visitors as of Friday, May 17, 2024. Please visit this guide for more information.
This chart shows national and regional trends of SARS-COV-2 viral activity levels in wastewater over the past 45 days.
This map shows current viral activity levels of SARS-COV-2 in wastewater.
CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) provides the public health infrastructure to monitor infectious diseases through wastewater across the country. Wastewater monitoring data can help local public health agencies identify outbreak trends early, direct prevention efforts to where they are most needed, and provide additional insight into disease spread that complements other public health surveillance data. Health departments, community leaders, and individuals can use wastewater monitoring data to make decisions about how best to protect their community.
Wastewater data can show changes in disease trends before trends are seen in clinical cases. This information can be used to prepare health care providers and hospital systems for upcoming increases in visits and hospitalizations and can inform other public health prevention efforts.
Wastewater can detect infection in a community whether or not people have symptoms. Unlike other types of public health reporting, wastewater surveillance (monitoring) does not depend on people having access to healthcare, visiting a doctor when sick or availability of testing for an infection.
From toilet flush to results only takes about five to seven days. Wastewater testing at a single treatment plant can provide information on community-level disease trends for hundreds, thousands, even millions of people.
Wastewater monitoring is implemented in all 50 states, 3 territories, and 5 tribal organizations. Wastewater monitoring can be implemented in any community that is served by municipal wastewater collection systems.
Wastewater monitoring can be rapidly adaptable to track emerging health threats. Wastewater surveillance has been used to monitor changes in COVID-19 and mpox cases in communities across the United States. CDC is working to better understand how wastewater surveillance can also be used to detect and respond to other infectious disease threats like antibiotic resistance and foodborne diseases.
Wastewater surveillance can provide information on the variants that are present in a community. When new variants of concern arise, wastewater surveillance can provide an early warning that these variants may be spreading in communities
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Wastewater surveillance data are most useful when used with other surveillance data. When reviewed together, wastewater and other surveillance data can provide a more complete picture of disease spread within a community.