JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is beginning to establish its wastewater surveillance capacities to support public health, force health protection, and national security. Wastewater surveillance is an emerging technology that has traditionally been utilized for detecting infectious diseases. However, its potential future uses may bring a staggering and unpredictable amount of information that could be used for a wide variety of purposes both health and non-health related. The U.S. military serves an inimitable role for the country and its citizens, and it exercises significant levels of control over its service members compared to civilian organizations. Further, its presence and potential wastewater surveillance activities may reach far beyond just military installations. As such, there arise unique ethical considerations that must be accounted for to ensure the DoD implements a wastewater surveillance network in a manner that is both impactful in supporting public health and appropriate to the scope and population under surveillance. Therefore, this paper explores important ethical features in conducting wastewater surveillance that are both specific to the DoD experience and applicable for wider public health interests.