THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES, ENGINEERING, AND MEDICINE
Division on Earth and Life Studies and Health and Medicine Division
Disease Surveillance Water Science and Technology Board
and
Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice
Committee on Community Wastewater-based Infectious
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Congressional Briefing
Thursday, September 12, 2024 – 2:00 p.m.
via Zoom
on
Increasing the Utility of Wastewater-based Disease Surveillance for Public Health Action: A Phase 2 Report
This new report – the second of two from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine -- details the technical constraints and opportunities to improve wastewater surveillance for the prevention and control of infectious diseases in the U.S. It recommends improvements in the consistency and quality of national wastewater sampling, testing, and data analysis, and identifies research and technology development needs for a national wastewater surveillance system that can serve ongoing and changing public health needs in the United States.
A Phase 1 Report was released in early 2023. It examined the usefulness of the National Wastewater Surveillance System during the COVID-19 pandemic, described the potential value of a robust national wastewater surveillance system beyond COVID-19, and provided recommendations to increase the public health impact of such a system.
This briefing was for members of Congress and congressional staff only. The report was publicly released on September 12, 2024 and can be found, in its entirety, on the Web site of the National Academies Press.