{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,24]],"date-time":"2026-02-24T08:28:27Z","timestamp":1771921707643,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,14]],"date-time":"2026-01-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768348800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Epidemiol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>This perspective piece explores the potential to implement wastewater surveillance on military vessels to improve disease monitoring and prevention. We examine five key topics: (1) recent studies of wastewater surveillance on military bases and training centers; (2) best practices for confined populations (e.g., colleges, prisons, hospitals, and low-income and middle-income countries) and their transferability to military settings; (3) current technologies enabling deployed personnel to conduct wastewater surveillance without advanced microbiological training; (4) key questions the military should address to prevent future outbreaks on vessels; and (5) unique ethical considerations surrounding implementation. This work aims to inform military decision-makers considering the adoption of wastewater surveillance programs.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fepid.2025.1630930","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,14]],"date-time":"2026-01-14T06:41:05Z","timestamp":1768372865000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Wastewater surveillance in the military: how deployed members of the armed forces can monitor outbreaks on military vessels"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"Anna","family":"Gitter","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston","place":["El Paso, TX, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kristina D.","family":"Mena","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston","place":["El Paso, TX, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Michelle","family":"Crum","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Preventive, Occupational, and Environmental Medicine, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler","place":["Tyler, TX, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Erick","family":"Butler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Engineering, West Texas A&M University","place":["Canyon, TX, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","first-page":"1417","article-title":"Presume the best, get the best","author":"Zeberlein","year":"2021"},{"key":"B2","article-title":"Readiness implications of coronavirus infections on US navy ships","author":"Martin","year":""},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2417","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa2019375","article-title":"An outbreak of COVID-19 on an aircraft carrier","volume":"383","author":"Kasper","year":"2020","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"key":"B4","article-title":"Consolidated department of defense coronavirus disease 2019 force health protection guidance (2023)","year":""},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e3675","DOI":"10.1093\/milmed\/usad239","article-title":"Designing a wastewater-based epidemiology study at the US air force academy: using severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 to test a sentinel system for early disease outbreak detection","volume":"188","author":"Goodwin","year":"2023","journal-title":"Mil Med"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e54750","DOI":"10.2196\/54750","article-title":"Wastewater surveillance pilot at US military installations: a cost model analysis","volume":"10","author":"Sanjak","year":"2024","journal-title":"JMIR Public Health Surveil"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e1570","DOI":"10.1093\/milmed\/usae518","article-title":"Application of pan-viral metagenomic sequencing on United States air force academy wastewater to uncover potential causes of acute gastroenteritis","volume":"190","author":"Mechikoff","year":"2025","journal-title":"Mil Med"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"699","DOI":"10.1177\/00333549241236644","article-title":"Wastewater surveillance of US coast guard installations and seagoing military vessels to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 outbreaks, march 2021\u2013August 2022","volume":"139","author":"Hall","year":"2022","journal-title":"Public Health"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1011","DOI":"10.1016\/j.banm.2022.04.025","article-title":"L\u2019Institut de recherche biom\u00e9dicale des arm\u00e9es (IRBA) et l\u2019\u00e9pid\u00e9miologie des eaux us\u00e9es: int\u00e9r\u00eat pour les forces arm\u00e9es","volume":"206","author":"Boni","year":"2022","journal-title":"Bull Acad Natl Med"},{"key":"B10","article-title":"Navy vessels (n.d.)","year":""},{"key":"B11","article-title":"Aircraft carriers by country 2025 (2025)","year":""},{"key":"B12","article-title":"Ready-for-sea handbook module 4\u2013typical ship organization (n.d.)","year":""},{"key":"B13","article-title":"How aircraft carriers work\u2013life on an aircraft carrier (2025)","author":"Harris","year":""},{"key":"B14","article-title":"FAQs for the family of enlisted sailors (n.d.)","year":""},{"key":"B15","article-title":"COVIDPoops19 summary of global SARS-CoV-2 wastewater monitoring efforts by UC Merced researchers. 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