Wastewater-Based Monitoring of Dengue Fever at Community Level - Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China, May 2024

Traditional dengue surveillance operates reactively, frequently lagging behind viral transmission patterns and thereby impeding timely public health responses. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) presents significant potential for proactive early warning systems. This study sought to implement and validate the first community-level WBE system for dengue during an active outbreak, evaluating its capacity to detect cryptic transmission and provide actionable intelligence for public health interventions.

During a dengue virus serotype 1 (DENV-1) outbreak, we collected 618 wastewater grab samples from manholes within a 200-m radius of 8 reported cases, along with matched patient serum and urine samples. We systematically compared magnetic bead and polyethylene glycol (PEG) concentration methods for viral recovery efficiency. DENV-1 ribonucleic acid (RNA) was detected and quantified using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Positive samples underwent genomic sequencing and phylogenetic analysis to confirm environmental signals and determine viral lineages.

The magnetic bead method demonstrated superior performance with a limit of detection of 10 copies/mL and was selected based on its higher recovery efficiency (59.7%). We successfully detected DENV-1 in 14 of 618 wastewater samples tested. Critically, a positive wastewater signal from one residential building preceded the clinical diagnosis of a new case within that same location by several hours. For a single patient, we successfully generated matched viral genomic sequences from serum, urine, and wastewater samples, providing definitive validation of the environmental signal's authenticity.

Community-level wastewater surveillance represents a powerful and effective tool for dengue control programs. This approach provides actionable early warnings by detecting cryptic viral transmission before cases receive clinical identification. Such capabilities enable public health authorities to deploy preemptive, geographically-targeted interventions, including vector control measures, fundamentally improving both the speed and precision of outbreak responses while helping to mitigate disease spread.