Why in news?
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) announced in August 2025 that it would expand wastewater surveillance to monitor ten viruses across 50 cities over the next six months. The move follows successful pilot projects during the COVID‑19 pandemic and aims to detect outbreaks early.
What is wastewater surveillance?
Wastewater or environmental surveillance involves collecting samples from sewage systems and surface waters and testing them for pathogens shed by infected individuals. People release traces of viruses and bacteria when they use toilets, showers or wash clothes. Even asymptomatic carriers shed detectable genetic material, allowing laboratories to identify infection trends in a community before clinical cases rise.
ICMR’s expanded plan
- Scope: After monitoring SARS‑CoV‑2 and poliovirus in five cities, the programme will track viruses linked to fever, diarrhoea, respiratory infections and encephalitis. Avian influenza surveillance will also be set up in outbreak‑prone regions.
- Integration: Data from wastewater surveillance will complement existing influenza‑like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) surveillance networks under ICMR and the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme.
- Benefits: Early detection allows health authorities to ramp up testing, vaccination and public awareness before outbreaks explode. It is non‑invasive, cost‑effective and covers large populations.
- Environmental value: Monitoring also helps identify pollution sources and protect rivers and coastal ecosystems by tracking industrial contaminants and antimicrobial resistance.
Challenges
Wastewater surveillance requires reliable sewerage networks, laboratory capacity and data interpretation expertise. Rural areas with on‑site sanitation may be harder to monitor. Privacy concerns arise if data are used to stigmatise neighbourhoods. Therefore, legal frameworks and community engagement are essential for ethical use of the data.