Which statement is NOT a use of wastewater-based epidemiology in One Health?

Which statement is NOT a use of wastewater-based epidemiology in One Health?

• A. Monitoring pathogens, resistance genes, and biomarkers to infer community health.
• B. Detecting weather patterns to predict rainfall.
• C. Informing cross-species exposure risk by indicating community pathogen circulation.
• D. Tracking population-level disease trends.

Answer: (B)

Wastewater-based epidemiology analyzes sewage to infer how diseases and exposures circulate in a community. By detecting pathogens, resistance genes, and biomarkers, it helps estimate overall community health and can reveal rising or declining disease activity. In a One Health context, it also informs cross-species exposure risk by indicating which pathogens are circulating in the community that could affect animals living near humans. It is also used to track population-level disease trends over time, offering early signals before clinical cases spike. However, it does not detect weather patterns or predict rainfall; meteorological patterns are outside its scope. Rainfall may influence wastewater measurements through dilution, but that is a methodological consideration rather than a surveillance use.

Wastewater-based epidemiology analyzes sewage to infer how diseases and exposures circulate in a community. By detecting pathogens, resistance genes, and biomarkers, it helps estimate overall community health and can reveal rising or declining disease activity. In a One Health context, it also informs cross-species exposure risk by indicating which pathogens are circulating in the community that could affect animals living near humans. It is also used to track population-level disease trends over time, offering early signals before clinical cases spike. However, it does not detect weather patterns or predict rainfall; meteorological patterns are outside its scope. Rainfall may influence wastewater measurements through dilution, but that is a methodological consideration rather than a surveillance use.