The recent resurgence of Bordetella pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, has become a significant public health concern. In 2024, the United States saw a dramatic increase in reported cases (CDC, 2025). Tracking the spread and resurgence of this disease through clinical cases alone can fail to capture the full scope of community transmission due to diagnostic lags and varying healthcare access. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) offers a complimentary surveillance approach, providing real-time community-level insights.
WBE as a sentinel for outbreak management
Recent studies have demonstrated that existing wastewater surveillance networks can be effectively leveraged to track B. pertussis outbreaks. During a 2023 outbreak in Alberta, Canada, researchers successfully detected the pathogen in wastewater, with trends strongly correlating with aggregated clinical case data (Weyant et al., 2025). This finding reinforces the use of wastewater surveillance in providing valuable information, particularly when clinical surveillance is sparse or delayed.
By capturing shedding from both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals, WBE provides an early warning system for emerging outbreaks. This allows public health officials to proactively allocate resources, such as targeted vaccination clinics or public health alerts, before clinical cases peak.
Efficiency through multiplexed panels
A significant challenge for laboratories is the logistical burden of adding new targets to an already dense surveillance schedule. The GT-Digital™ Bordetella pertussis Wastewater Surveillance Assay v1.0 for the QIAGEN® QIAcuity® Digital PCR System (Cat# 101125) and the GT-Digital™ Bordetella pertussis Wastewater Surveillance Assay v1.0 for the Bio-Rad QX200™ or QX600™ Droplet Digital™ PCR System (Cat# 101130) can be seamlessly multiplexed with targets in other channels. This strategy can save valuable resources and allow labs to attain higher reproducibility by minimizing consumables and users.
Strengthening the public health safety net
Expanding routine wastewater monitoring to include pertussis is a proactive investment in community resilience. By leveraging the same molecular infrastructure established for COVID-19 and Influenza, labs can provide a more comprehensive safety net that adapts dynamically to emerging public health threats in real time.
This integrated approach strengthens community-level surveillance and supports more agile, data-driven public health decisions.
At GT Molecular, we are committed to advancing molecular tools that support wastewater surveillance and pathogen detection. Our technologies empower communities to stay ahead of outbreaks and protect vulnerable populations.
