ICMR to conduct surveillance of waste water in 50 cities to establish early warning system

New Delhi, Sep 14 (PTI) Apex health research body ICMR will conduct surveillance of waste water in 50 cities over the next one year to track pathogens in the community as part of efforts to help establish an early warning system.

Currently, the surveillance is being conducted in the waste water of five cities as an initial pilot, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Dr Rajiv Bahl said.

This work carried out by the Tata Institute of Genetics and Society, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and National Centre for Disease Control has generated reliable trends of upsurge and decline of SARS-CoV-2 in five different cities of India.

It is now planned to expand this effort to include pathogens of human as well as animal origin across several cities of India.

Dr Bahl said the move will create a robust surveillance system and strengthen the response mechanism in case of any outbreak.

"In the next one year surveillance will be intensified as waste water study will be conducted in 50 cities across the country to enable us to pick up any rise in virus load in the community. Currently COVID-19 and polio are under surveillance,'' he said.

The apex health research body is involved in establishing environmental surveillance for viruses, including Avian Influenza Virus (AIV), SARS-CoV-2, Polio etc. which includes monitoring surface water and waste water, particularly in areas with outbreaks, to establish an early warning system.

In addition to AIV, India has a robust surveillance system for Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) through ICMR and the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme. Dr. Bahl also added that Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) surveillance is already being conducted at several hospitals across the country. AMR is a growing problem in India and the world. PTI PLB DV DV