Testing wastewater could give early warning system for preventing epidemics

New 'water fingerprinting' technology developed by researchers at the University of Bath to test a city's water could soon be mitigating infectious disease, limiting the spread of antibiotic resistant "superbugs" such as E. coli, and enabling authorities to monitor the overall health of the public. In this internationally collaborative project, interdisciplinary experts from the University of Bath and Stellenbosch University (South Africa) are teaming up to develop a real-time community-wide public health early warning system (EWS) by measuring biomarkers - molecules made by the body that characterise disease and illness - in the sewage system. Urban water contains a mixture of human waste, wastewater and run off samples, pooled from contributing populations. To epidemiologists, this cocktail contains a treasure trove of information on the underlying health status of the population and surrounding environment. The project will combine state-of-the-art methodology in chemistry, genetics and electronics to unlock this information and `provide real-time health "profiles" of urban water samples. This will enable government health professionals to identify early on any risks to public health and therefore attempt to mitigate potential widespread crises such as pandemics and infectious diseases. Africa and Asia are experiencing unprecedented population growth and urbanisation.