Measles Wastewater Sample History from CDC Surveillance System

CDC's National Wastewater Surveillance System provides a complete time history of measles wastewater sample data and calculated metrics from US sampling locations. Data is contributed by state and local health departments, CDC's contract with Verily, and the WastewaterSCAN partnership. The dataset is updated weekly on Fridays.

Use Cases

• Model measles outbreak risk by correlating pcr_target_avg_conc_lin with population_served and sample_collect_date.
• Assess laboratory method performance by comparing pcr_target_detect rates across major_lab_method and extraction_method.
• Track viral concentration trends over time using pcr_target_flowpop_lin and sample_collect_date for specific site locations.
• Evaluate sample quality and inhibition by analyzing inhibition_detect and rec_eff_percent across different pcr_type assays.

Strengths

• Data represents a complete time history from multiple contributing sources.
• Includes over 30 specific columns detailing laboratory methods, concentrations, and sample metadata.
• Updated weekly, providing recent surveillance data.

Limitations

• Sample size and row count are unknown, limiting assessment of statistical power.
• Specific geographic coverage within the US is not detailed, potentially introducing regional bias.
• Experimental nature of inputs is explicitly noted, which may affect result consistency.

Provenance

Source

CDC National Wastewater Surveillance System, with data from state/territory health departments, CDC-Verily, and WastewaterSCAN.

Collection Method

Wastewater samples collected and analyzed by contributing laboratories, with results reported to CDC.

Freshness

Updated weekly on Fridays.

Geography

United States sampling locations.