CDC Eyes Wastewater for Germ Alerts: Sewer Surveillance Saves Lives
Published Date: 2/24/2026
Notice
Summary
The CDC wants your thoughts on a plan to keep tracking germs in wastewater to help protect public health. This affects local health agencies that send data to the CDC, helping everyone stay safer without adding extra paperwork. You’ve got until April 27, 2026, to share your ideas—no cost changes, just smarter info sharing!
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Large Time Burden for Respondents
CDC estimates the NWSS will require about 453,505 annual burden hours from respondents and says there are no direct monetary costs to respondents other than their time. The respondents named include state, tribal, local, territorial health departments, private laboratories, and wastewater utilities.
NWSS Continued Three-Year Approval
The CDC is asking OMB to approve the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) for an additional three years under OMB Control No. 0920-1422. The NWSS collects wastewater data from jurisdictions and labs to help detect disease trends and inform public health actions.
Expansion of Pathogen Targets
The NWSS has expanded beyond SARS-CoV-2 to include influenza, RSV, monkeypox virus, and measles, and is designed to allow rapid addition or exchange of infectious disease targets. This aggregated, anonymized wastewater data is intended to indicate community infection trends and give jurisdictions early signals for outbreaks.
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