The UK Health Security Agency has launched a new £1.3 million programme to explore how wastewater monitoring could be used to detect a wider range of dangerous pathogens, enhancing the UK’s early warning capabilities for infectious disease outbreaks.
Funded by the UK Integrated Security Fund, the initiative will assess cutting-edge technologies to identify the genetic material of viruses in wastewater and track how levels change over time. The programme builds on the UK’s existing surveillance for polio, and if successful, could expand to include diseases such as:
- Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever
- Mpox
- West Nile Virus
- Lassa Fever
This marks the first time that Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever, a severe disease endemic in parts of Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe, has been considered for wastewater testing in the UK.
Chief Data Officer at the UKHSA, Professor Steven Riley, said:
“Wastewater monitoring has the potential to be central to our work on pathogens that threaten public health. It shows great promise as a cost-effective way for us to quickly detect a range of emerging pathogens, which is vital for an effective response.
“This is an exciting and important project. The diversity of biological threats is increasing globally, and it’s crucial that we stay at the cutting edge of new technology to detect them.”
The goal is to develop a national early warning system that enables faster detection and response to outbreaks – an approach proven critical during the COVID-19 pandemic.
UKHSA laboratories will lead the research, using advanced genomic tools to improve the UK’s biosecurity infrastructure. The project is part of the UKISF Biosecurity Portfolio, launched by the Cabinet Office earlier this year to strengthen national resilience against biological threats.
If successful, the programme could revolutionise how the UK monitors public health risks, offering a scalable, non-invasive method to detect emerging pathogens and protect communities.
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