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Wastewater Detects Measles Weeks Early, Funding Cut Looms
16 Jan
Summary
- Wastewater testing can detect measles days to months before clinical confirmation.
- A proposed budget cut threatens to slash CDC's wastewater surveillance funding.
- Oregon study found sewage testing could have flagged outbreak two months prior.
Wastewater surveillance offers a vital, proactive approach to identifying measles outbreaks, often detecting the virus days or even months before clinical cases are confirmed. Studies from Colorado and Oregon published recently by the CDC demonstrate this capability, with one Oregon study suggesting sewage testing could have provided a warning over two months prior to an outbreak. These findings reinforce the value of wastewater testing for tracking various infectious diseases.
The national wastewater surveillance system, operational since 2020 and currently serving 147 million people across over 1,300 sites, is facing a proposed drastic funding reduction. A Trump administration budget plan would decrease its annual funding from approximately $125 million to $25 million. While CDC officials indicate this would allow for sustaining critical activities, it would necessitate prioritization, potentially impacting the system's reach and support for state initiatives.
Despite the funding uncertainty, state health departments are preparing for potential federal support loss. Colorado's program, which began voluntarily in 2020, is 100% federally funded and is exploring long-term sustainability beyond 2029. The system has proven instrumental in identifying hidden transmission, as seen in New Mexico, where it helped manage a significant outbreak by alerting officials to cases in a rural area.
