Wastewater is a valuable source of information — Africa’s scientists need to use it to find drug-resistant bacteria

The absence of wastewater treatment plants in many African countries means that it will be hard for them to actively implement wastewater-based antimicrobial resistance surveillance. Governments must invest in connecting their populations to sewer networks to address this problem. This is crucial for overall hygiene and health. And it will offer important sources of information for researchers trying to detect resistant microorganisms in communities.

Once sewer networks are in place, standardised protocols for assessing antimicrobial resistance in wastewater treatment plants must be established. The protocols should consider the sampling regime and frequency, the organisms targeted, what antibiotics need to be tested, and what methods should be used.