From signal to decision: Dutch experiences with local wastewater surveillance for infectious disease control

“Netherlands was among the first countries to implement wastewater and environmental surveillance (WES) in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) set up a national wastewater surveillance program, based on existing experience of wastewater surveillance for poliovirus and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The results of the national wastewater surveillance program have been reported on the Dutch national COVID-19 dashboard in
conjunction with all other surveillance indicators and are also reported in Bulletin section of this Chronicle. Since the pandemic, the national surveillance program explored expansion to other infectious diseases (mpox, measles) Wastewater research | RIVM.
On a more local level, regional public health services set out to explore the value of WES to inform public health decision-making, grounded in settings where they had access to data, operational context, and implementation processes. The explorations described here were conducted in a consortium of several regional public health services with KWR, Partners4UrbanWater
University of Technology and University Medical Center.”

Citation: Jong, M. de, Fanoy, E., Sips, G.J., et.al. – From signal to decision: Dutch experiences with local wastewater surveillance for infectious disease control, p. 3-6 – In: Gawlik, B.M., Panzarella, G., Comero, S., Tessarolo, A., Koutsolioutsou, A. et al., Blue Mirror – One Water – One Health Monthly Chronicle – February 2026 – Vol. 2 Issue 2, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2026, JRC145645)