Application of wastewater and environmental surveillance for pathogenic agents during the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit, Michigan

Wastewater surveillance (WS) has emerged as a powerful tool for monitoring public health at the population level. Applications of WS continue to evolve with some recent efforts as aligned with monitoring the transmission of pathogens during mass gatherings. Mass gatherings are of concern to public health as they are associated with crowds, increased social interaction, and travel, all of which can facilitate the spread of infectious disease. Here we applied WS for pathogen surveillance during the 2024 National Football League (NFL) Draft in Detroit, Michigan, a large-scale sporting event that attracted an estimated 775,000 individuals to the Detroit riverfront from across the United States and beyond. Wastewater and environmental samples were assayed using RT-qPCR and nanofluidic qPCR to measure the concentration of a diversity of clinically relevant pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs). The data produced allowed for an overview of pathogen prevalence prior to, during and after a large-scale gathering, showing how WS may be implemented to warn of emerging health risk in near real time. This research shows WS has the potential to capture pathogen transmission dynamics during mass gatherings and provide public health authorities information needed to implement outbreak mitigation strategies in advance.