Scientists are proposing to use wastewater from aircraft to track the spread of viruses. Typically, this water is simply disposed of, but researchers believe it could become a valuable source of data on the circulation of infections. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

Researchers from the US and UK have shown that analyzing wastewater allows tracking the circulation of infections without the need to test individual passengers. The results of the pilot project were published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Methodology

From March 2024 to January 2025, scientists collected wastewater samples from international flights between the US and the UK. In total, researchers analyzed 424 samples. Nearly 75% of them contained at least one respiratory pathogen.

Detected viruses

Among the detected pathogens were influenza A and B viruses, SARS-CoV-2 (which causes COVID-19), and respiratory syncytial virus. Approximately 72% of samples contained at least one pathogen of intestinal infections.

Why this matters

International flights allow infections to spread quickly between countries along with people. Therefore, airports can be important points for early detection of viruses and pathogens.

Wastewater analysis does not require determining who exactly is the carrier of the infection. Researchers obtain information about a group of passengers while preserving their confidentiality.

Furthermore, wastewater from aircraft contains relatively concentrated biological material and is not mixed with industrial or agricultural runoff. This may facilitate the detection of certain pathogens.

Concrete example: XEC variant

One example is the XEC variant of the coronavirus. It was detected in wastewater from flights departing from the UK on September 17, 2024. This was about four weeks earlier than in similar samples from flights from the US.

The first clinical case of XEC in the US was registered back in July. However, wastewater data helped to notice that significant spread of this variant in the country began only in mid-October.

Future plans

Researchers propose creating a global network of so-called "sentinel airports" where wastewater would be regularly analyzed. This would allow faster detection of new pathogens and tracking how they move between countries. In the future, such data could help authorities respond to threats earlier and more accurately.

For now, this is a pilot study. To create a global system, it is necessary to verify how well such monitoring works at airports in different countries and how consistently it detects new infections.

Kursiv Health reported that imported cases of dengue fever were recently recorded in Kazakhstan.

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