Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 May;11(5):e791-e795.
doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(23)00129-8.

A global aircraft-based wastewater genomic surveillance network for early warning of future pandemics

Jiaying Li  1 , Ian Hosegood  2 , David Powell  3 , Ben Tscharke  4 , Jenny Lawler  5 , Kevin V Thomas  4 , Jochen F Mueller  4
Affiliations
Review

A global aircraft-based wastewater genomic surveillance network for early warning of future pandemics

Jiaying Li et al. Lancet Glob Health. 2023 May.

Abstract

International airports can have a key role in screening, detecting, and mitigating cross-border transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and potentially other infectious diseases. With aircraft passengers representing a subpopulation of a country or region, aircraft-based wastewater surveillance can be a promising approach to effectively identifying emerging viruses, tracing their evolution, and mapping global spread with international flights. Therefore, we propose the development of a global aircraft-based wastewater genomic surveillance network, with the busiest international airports as central nodes and continuing air travel journeys as vectors. This surveillance programme requires routinely collecting aircraft wastewater samples for microbiological analysis and sequencing and linking the resulting data with associated international air traffic information. With the creation of a strong international alliance between the airline industry and health authorities, this surveillance network will potentially complement public health systems with a true early warning ability to inform decision making for new variants and future global health risks.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests IH is an employee of Qantas Airways. DP is a consultant adviser to the International Air Transport Association. All other authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants across five continents and flight routes from the busiest ten international airports in 2021 The top ten busiest airports worldwide in 2021 were published by the Airports Council International. The ranking was based on international passenger traffic. Flight route data were obtained from OpenFlights. Data for SARS-CoV-2 variants were obtained from GISAID, including variants of concern (alpha [B.1.1.7], beta [B.1.351], gamma [P.1], delta [B.1.617.2 and AY], and omicron [B.1.1.529 and BA.]), previous variants of interest (lambda [C.37] and mu [B.1.621 and B.1.621.1]), and variants under monitoring (GH/490R [B.1.640]). DXB=Dubai International Airport, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. ISL=Atatürk International Airport, Istanbul, Türkiye. AMS=Amsterdam Schipol Airport, Amsterdam, Netherlands. FRA=Frankfurt Airport, Frankfurt, Germany. CDG=Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France. DOH=Hamad International Airport, Doha, Qatar. LHR=London Heathrow, London, UK. AYT=Antalya Airport, Antalya, Türkiye. MAD=Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, Madrid, Spain. CUN=Cancun International Airport, Cancun, Mexico.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Flow diagram of the proposed global aircraft-based wastewater genomic surveillance network
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. du Plessis L, McCrone JT, Zarebski AE, et al. Establishment and lineage dynamics of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in the UK. Science. 2021;371:708–712. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nakamura H, Managi S. Airport risk of importation and exportation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Transp Policy. 2020;96:40–47. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wu JT, Leung K, Leung GM. Nowcasting and forecasting the potential domestic and international spread of the 2019-nCoV outbreak originating in Wuhan, China: a modelling study. Lancet. 2020;395:689–697. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chinazzi M, Davis JT, Ajelli M, et al. The effect of travel restrictions on the spread of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Science. 2020;368:395–400. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Li J, Lai S, Gao GF, Shi W. The emergence, genomic diversity and global spread of SARS-CoV-2. Nature. 2021;600:408–418. - PubMed

Publication types