A Welsh Government-led programme to test wastewater for COVID-19 has added communicable diseases and hospitals to its capabilities.

 

The programme provides vital data on the prevalence of coronavirus in the community and adding these key sites and additional communicable diseases to the monitoring already in place across Welsh health boards and local authorities will deepen the insight and localised knowledge required in public health decision-making.

Scientists from Bangor University initially developed the process of testing wastewater for COVID-19, and this work, carried out in partnership with the Welsh Government, Cardiff University, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water and Hafren Dyfrdwy was used in the early detection of the Omicron wave across Wales.

As well as testing for SARS-CoV-2 and other variants, the team have now established methods for testing for other viruses of interest, including Polio, norovirus and other stomach bugs, influenza and the respiratory virus RSV and antimicrobial resistance.

The next stage in the development of the programme sees the existing programme partners work with closely with Public Health Wales to monitor wastewater at nine hospitals in Wales and to expand on the surveillance of Polio viruses following the detection of a vaccine derived polio virus in London earlier this year. 

Professor David Jones from Bangor University’s School of Natural Sciences who leads on the development of the wastewater monitoring programme, said: “This is all about getting as good a picture of what’s going on as we possibly can. Testing specific settings, such as hospitals, enables us to do better frontline protection of people’s health as well as seeing what new pathogens might be entering the country. Testing at mass gatherings such as a festival could also give us an indication of how important these are in disease transmission.”

Professor Andy Weightman from Cardiff University’s School of Biosciences and Water Research Institute, co-leading the programme, said: “Expansion of Wales’ Wastewater Monitoring Programme to monitor antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a key new development. The World Health Organisation has declared that AMR is one of the top 10 global health threats facing humanity: it threatens the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by microorganisms. Our new expanded programme will help counter this threat by allowing us monitor the AMR burden so as to understand better how AMR genes and the microbes that transmit them are spreading in our communities.”

Joe Shuttleworth, Senior Digital Consultant, Arup added, “Wastewater analysis provides an honest picture of the health of a community. It is a significant piece in the puzzle of supporting public health – if the data and insights are provided to the right people, in the right way, and at the right time. The next important stage in its journey is to look beyond COVID-19, utilising this approach to help prepare Wales for future public health challenges.”

Meng Khaw, National Director of Health Protection and Screening Services, Public Health Wales, said: “Public Health Wales is delighted to be working with our partners to expand the capability of wastewater surveillance across Wales. This surveillance will be crucial in enabling us to monitor and respond quickly to emerging incidents and outbreaks of communicable disease and deepen our understanding of antimicrobial resistance, helping us to protect and improve the health and wellbeing of people in Wales. Waste water surveillance has been crucial in identifying the presence of poliovirus in London, and now Wales will also be in a position to identify this and other emerging diseases to take early action.”

Health and Social Services Minister Eluned Morgan said: “Wastewater data has been instrumental in helping us understand how the Covid-19 virus has adapted over time and provided us with key data which has allowed us to track the virus though our communities.

“The expansion of monitoring to these key sites and investigation of viruses beyond COVID-19 will provide us with even more valuable insight, informing how we react to communicable diseases and helping us protect the most vulnerable.“

Rob Orford, the Welsh Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser for Health, said: “Wastewater monitoring provides us with up-to-date intelligence the levels of COVID-19 in our communities. The expansion of the sites and investigation of other communicable diseases is the next step in developing the data and widening our understanding even further.

“We want to continue to use the monitoring of wastewater as a key part of our armoury against COVID-19, as well as using its potential to monitor viruses such as influenza and in anti-microbial resistance into the future.“