Biosensors for the detection of disease outbreaks through wastewater-based epidemiology

Abstract

Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE) is a novel community-wide monitoring tool that provides comprehensive real-time data of the public and environmental health status and can contribute to public health interventions, including those related to infectious disease outbreaks (e.g., the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic). Nonetheless, municipalities without centralized laboratories are likely still not able to process WBE samples. Biosensors are a potentially cost-effective solution to monitor the development of diseases through WBE to prevent local outbreaks. This review discusses the economic and technical feasibility of eighteen recently developed biosensors for the detection and monitoring of infectious disease agents in wastewater, prospecting the prevention of future pandemics.