Wastewater surveillance is a community-level approach for monitoring molecular indicators of disease present in sewage. Throughout the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, scientists and public health officials have leveraged programs to track severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and other respiratory pathogens in wastewater. Since 2022, the BPHC Wastewater Epidemiology Program has collected wastewater from eleven Boston neighborhoods and analyzed these samples for concentrations and sequences of SARS-CoV-2. Beginning in 2023, BPHC also tests samples for Influenza A, Influenza B, and RSV. BPHC’s data indicates that concentrations of these respiratory viruses in wastewater correlate strongly with and often precede available clinical surveillance data. These data offer near real-time information about respiratory disease trends at the neighborhood scale, informing public health outreach and response efforts. For information about the BPHC program, please visit boston.gov/bphc-wastewater. The Commission views wastewater monitoring as a crucial tool for monitoring population health and to help identify emerging health issues and concerns. We are seeking a partnership to implement wastewater monitoring within Boston neighborhoods. The goal of our wastewater monitoring program is to help us align and prioritize our interventions to mitigate the burden of disease across Boston neighborhoods. Through this RFP we seek a partner to conduct wastewater sample collection, extraction, analysis, and sequencing for a comprehensive wastewater program. Therefore, at minimum we would like to identify a partner capable of testing for the following pathogens: SARS-CoV-2, Influenza A, Influenza B, and RSV, measles, mpox clade 1b, H5 influenza, and norovirus. Our wastewater surveillance partner would implement a well-documented wastewater surveillance program with state-of-the-art sampling and analytical methods. The partner would utilize robust reproducible approaches and technologies that have been evaluated by federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, wastewater utilities, academic researchers, and industry.
