By Kinako Denis Elia Dazangapai As an early-career scientist with a passion for infectious disease genomics, the opportunity to learn directly from experts in the field is incredibly valuable to me. Being selected for the WaSPP International Placement Programme hosted at Universiti Malaya allowed me to gain hands-on training in molecular diagnostics for wastewater surveillance and work alongside experts leading the way in the field. But it was much more than that. PCR Amplifi

By Amy Dighe In 1930, unusually heavy rainfall and flooding in Kenya’s Rift Valley disrupted the normal rhythm of the seasons – delaying lambing from its usual peak in November to July the following year. When lambing finally began, a mysterious outbreak swept through sheep herds, causing exceptionally high mortality in lambs, as well as widespread abortions and deaths in ewes. Sheep herders and veterinary investigators in the area also began to fall ill with fever. Zoonotic

By Tresor Kabeya, MD, MMed, MSc Fifty years ago, a headmaster at Yambuku Mission School returned from a trip to northern Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Shortly afterwards, he developed chills and persistent fever and two weeks later, he died from what was then an unexplained viral haemorrhagic illness. In September that same year, Ebola virus disease was first identified during two simultaneous outbreaks: the Yambuku outbreak in the Democratic Republic of C

By David Dreifuss On 2 May 2026, the World Health Organisation was notified of a cluster of severe respiratory illnesses on the MV Hondius, a Dutch-flagged expedition cruise ship travelling from Ushuaia, Argentina, across the South Atlantic. By 20 May 2026, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reported 11 cases linked to the ship, including 9 confirmed cases, 2 probable cases, and 3 deaths. The virus had by then been identified as Andes hantavirus, t

By Dr Vicka Oktaria and Rizka Dinari Wastewater surveillance (WES) is emerging as one of the most promising tools for detecting disease transmission at the community level and strengthening public health preparedness. To unlock its full potential, thoughtful decisions must be taken about where and how to sample, all of which must be grounded in epidemiological evidence, population data, and local realities. As part of the global Wastewater Surveillance for Pandemic Prevention

From its inception, the WaSPP consortium has recognised the importance of answering a critical question: How can we reliably recover and detect pathogens with pandemic potential in wastewater? To address this, we spent several months comparing eight different methods of concentrating viruses—a key step that increases the chances of detecting viral signals from wastewater. After a significant effort by the team, it was determined that electronegative filtration (ENF) and magne

The WaSPP consortium are developing and testing protocols and software for wastewater surveillance of viruses with pandemic potential. We have been guiding the development of these products using a Target Product Profile (TPP) that describes the characteristics that need to be met for WaSPP to have public health value. The TPP is a living document that has been revised with input from the WaSPP consortium, our Scientific Advisory Board and stakeholders in countries implementi

Global Advances and Malaysia’s Experience in Wastewater Surveillance After the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, global focus shifted to the development of tools for pandemic prevention and disease monitoring. Wastewater surveillance has emerged as a highly compelling approach. It fills the critical gaps left by traditional surveillance systems, which depend largely on individuals seeking testing or medical care, and enables the detection of infections among asymptomatic carriers. By dete

Members of the WaSPP Consortium recently gathered at Imperial College London to take part in the two week short course Mathematical...

In this perspective, some of the WaSPP network layout the opportunities and challenges for wastewater surveillance of pathogens with pandemi

The WaSPP network was officially launched 20-22 January 2025 at the Universitas Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Researchers from...