The Future of Wastewater Surveillance and Immune Research
July 1, 2026
During the COVID-19 pandemic, wastewater surveillance transformed how scientists tracked the spread of disease, providing an early warning system that did not depend on individual testing. Now, just as researchers are finding new ways to use the technology, the future of the CDC’s national wastewater surveillance program is uncertain.
The CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS), established in 2021, supports approximately 1,300 testing sites serving an estimated 144 million Americans.
Today, the network tracks COVID-19, influenza, RSV, measles, mpox, avian influenza, and emerging viral variants, helping public health officials identify outbreaks and monitor disease trends across the country.
However, the federal funding that launched the program is expected to expire this fall. Although many state health departments have planned ahead and expect to continue testing into 2027 using remaining grant funds, public health organizations say temporary funding is not enough to sustain a nationwide surveillance system.
To address the funding gap, the American Society for Microbiology and nearly 20 partner organizations are urging Congress to provide dedicated funding for NWSS in the CDC’s fiscal year 2027 budget. The group has requested at least $120 million to support continued wastewater surveillance, arguing that it has become an essential part of the nation’s public health infrastructure. Congress is considering two bipartisan bills, the PREDICT Act in the Senate and the SEWER Act in the House, which would strengthen and expand federal support for wastewater surveillance programs.
For many people living with autoimmune disease, Long COVID, and other conditions that increase the risk of severe infections, wastewater data has become a valuable tool for monitoring virus activity in their communities.
Because the data reflects overall community transmission rather than individual testing, it can help people make informed decisions about masking, travel, medical appointments, and other activities, and researchers believe the technology is only beginning to show its potential.
New advances are allowing scientists to detect not only viruses but also antibodies, inflammatory proteins, and other immune-related markers in wastewater.
Some of these proteins, including S100A8 (calprotectin), are already familiar to autoimmune disease researchers because they are elevated in conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis) and rheumatoid arthritis. Although this work is still in its early stages, researchers believe wastewater surveillance could eventually help track patterns of immune activity across entire communities while preserving individual privacy.
Whether Congress approves new funding will shape more than the future of COVID-19 wastewater maps.
Researchers say continued investment could preserve an important early warning system while helping expand wastewater surveillance into new areas of public health, including the study of immune responses, chronic inflammation, and emerging infectious diseases for years to come.
Citations
Devianto, L. A., Amarasiri, M., Wang, L., Iizuka, T., & Sano, D. (2024). Identification of protein biomarkers in wastewater linked to the incidence of COVID-19. The Science of the total environment, 951, 175649. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.175649
Maggi, J., Abian, J., Ginebreda, A., Barceló, D., & Carrascal, M. (2025). Immunoproteomics for wastewater-based health surveillance: A review. Environmental science and ecotechnology, 28, 100626. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ese.2025.100626
Claudia G Tugui, Filine Cordesius, Willem van Holthe, Mark C M van Loosdrecht, Martin Pabst, Wastewater metaproteomics: tracking microbial and human protein biomarkers, ISME Communications, Volume 6, Issue 1, January 2026, ycaf243, https://doi.org/10.1093/ismeco/ycaf243