ILRI leads efforts to increase wastewater environmental and genomic surveillance in Kenya
As part of the GenPath Africa project’s continuous efforts to expand wastewater surveillance systems in Kenya and beyond, our colleagues at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) recently helped organise a two-day workshop focused on wastewater environmental surveillance, as well as a week-long training on wastewater genomic surveillance for public health officials and scientists from several African countries.
The first event, a joint venture between the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and IRLI, took place on 26 - 27 February 2025 at ILRI’s Nairobi campus. The workshop brought together 39 participants representing a wide range of stakeholders, including several government representatives from Kenya and members from various research institutions, biotech companies, transport companies and development partners. Together, they discussed future opportunities for integration of wastewater environmental surveillance in Kenya, as well as the need for strategic application of decentralised wastewater treatment solutions (DEWATS) in the country. In addition to the group’s discussion, our team, led by Dr Sam Oyola, conducted a survey to assess current gaps in the country’s wastewater environmental surveillance capacity. Dr Oyola also presented a lecture on wastewater and environmental surveillance epidemiology for public health preparedness and early warning, to emphasize the importance of integrating wastewater surveillance into long-term public health strategies to respond quickly and effectively to disease outbreaks.
The workshop was followed by a week-long training in the genomic surveillance of wastewater. In a collaboration with the Africa CDC and their Pathogen Genomic Initiative, the ILRI genomic team conducted a training for 20 participants from 11 African countries at their facilities in Nairobi from 3 - 7 March 2025. Equipped with cutting-edge next-generation sequencing technologies, robust bioinformatics analysis pipelines and with team members who have ample experience in the implementation of wastewater surveillance systems, ILRI is well placed to serve as a hub of knowledge exchange and education for fellow scientists and public health officials. Our colleagues provided intensive theoretical and practical training, instructing participants in how to best develop capacity to implement wastewater surveillance in their countries and training them in bioinformatic analysis of metagenomic data gathered from wastewater samples. With the knowledge and skills gained from this week-long training, participants will be equipped to support the implementation of more wastewater surveillance systems in their home countries and can help support the capacity of public health institutions to prevent, detect, and ultimately control disease outbreaks across the continent.
