Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41753564›Full record

ArticleMicroorganisms2026

Implementation of SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Surveillance Systems in Germany-Pilot Study in the Federal State of Thuringia.

Felix Kaller, Gloria M Kohlhepp, Sarah Haeusser, Sara Wullenkord, Katarina Reichel-Kühl, Anna Pfannstiel, Robert Möller, Jennifer Führ, Carlos Chillon Geck, Yousuf Al-Hakim and 7 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Microorganisms, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors.

Felix KallerDepartment Hamm 2, Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences, 59063 Hamm, Germany.
Gloria M KohlheppBauhaus-Institute for Infrastructure Solutions (b.is), Bauhaus University Weimar, 99423 Weimar, Germany.ORCID 0009-0005-5774-2077
Sarah HaeusserDepartment Hamm 2, Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences, 59063 Hamm, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-3910-0845
Sara WullenkordBauhaus-Institute for Infrastructure Solutions (b.is), Bauhaus University Weimar, 99423 Weimar, Germany.
Katarina Reichel-KühlBauhaus-Institute for Infrastructure Solutions (b.is), Bauhaus University Weimar, 99423 Weimar, Germany.
Anna PfannstielBauhaus-Institute for Infrastructure Solutions (b.is), Bauhaus University Weimar, 99423 Weimar, Germany.ORCID 0009-0004-8190-4809
Robert MöllerAnalytik Jena GmbH + Co. KG, 07745 Jena, Germany.ORCID 0009-0004-7596-9315
Jennifer FührAnalytik Jena GmbH + Co. KG, 07745 Jena, Germany.
Carlos Chillon GeckInstitute of Digital and Autonomous Construction, Hamburg University of Technology, 21079 Hamburg, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-6746-1758
Yousuf Al-HakimInstitute of Digital and Autonomous Construction, Hamburg University of Technology, 21079 Hamburg, Germany.ORCID 0009-0000-0228-6397
Andrea LückBauhaus-Institute for Infrastructure Solutions (b.is), Bauhaus University Weimar, 99423 Weimar, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-8897-9334
Norbert KreuzingerInstitute for Water Quality and Resources Management, Vienna University of Technology, 1040 Vienna, Austria.ORCID 0000-0002-6400-8218
Johannes PinnekampInstitute of Environmental Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
Mathias W PletzInstitute for Infectious Diseases and Infection Control, Jena University Hospital-Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Am Klinikum 1, 07740 Jena, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-8157-2753
Claudia KlümperDepartment Hamm 2, Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences, 59063 Hamm, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-3419-7855
Silvio BeierBauhaus-Institute for Infrastructure Solutions (b.is), Bauhaus University Weimar, 99423 Weimar, Germany.
Kay SmarslyInstitute of Digital and Autonomous Construction, Hamburg University of Technology, 21079 Hamburg, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-7228-3503

Funding

Free State of Thuringia and the Thuringian Ministry for Economy, Science and Digital Society (TMWWDG) 2021 FE 9143
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, wastewater monitoring has become an additional tool in the surveillance of infectious diseases. Many EU countries put wastewater surveillance systems (WSS) in place to track SARS-CoV-2 and its variants and other pathogens, such as the influenza virus or Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). In Germany, several research and pilot projects funded by the EU, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Federal Ministry of Health, and projects at Federal State level have been launched in the last four years. In Germany, wastewater monitoring was not implemented as a public health tool before the COVID-19 pandemic, but in September 2022, it has been legally determined in the German infection protection act (Infektionsschutzgesetz, IfSG). As Germany is a federal state, competencies in epidemic management partly belong to the 16 federal states ("Länder"). In the federal states, the local health authorities at the county ("Kreise") level also have specific risk management and communication competencies. Furthermore, WSS has been incorporated into the revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (EU) 2024/3019. For this reason, the federal states and local health authorities play a pivotal role in successfully implementing wastewater monitoring as a supplementary component of disease surveillance in Germany. Between November 2021 and August 2022, the federal state of Thuringia, Germany, supported a pilot study to implement a surveillance system for SARS-CoV-2-RNA in wastewater of 23 wastewater treatment plants in 17 counties in Thuringia. Here, we describe the study design and the system behind the logistics and the planning, and we provide an overview of the options for involving the public health service. Furthermore, the possibilities for IT concepts and approaches to innovative AI solutions are shown. We also aim to explore the feasibility and potential barriers to further implementing wastewater surveillance as a supplementary public health tool in Thuringia.

Indexed as

data interoperabilityearly warning systemsepidemiological data integrationinstitutionalizationprocess optimizationpublic healthSARS-CoV-2wastewater monitoringwastewater surveillance systems

Identifiers

PMID41753564
PMCPMC12943387

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.