OBÉPINE Network - Epidemiological Observatory in Wastewater
Created in 2020 at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Obépine research consortium had set itself the challenge of providing proof of concept that the presence of the virus responsible for Covid-19 in wastewater could be used as an epidemiological surveillance criterion for the exposed population, in an unprecedented epidemic and health context. This consortium was formed with the support of the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation to pool the skills of several French research laboratories specializing in clinical and environmental virology and modeling.
The first mission of the Obépine network was the development of the methodological tools necessary to quantify the genome of this new virus in wastewater. The Obépine network has gradually been enriched with new monitoring sites spread throughout metropolitan and overseas France and currently has 200 wastewater treatment plants.
The research program currently being drafted will focus on deepening the epidemiology of wastewater by extending it to other current and emerging biological contaminants of strong health and societal interest. The aim will be to produce scientific knowledge on the dynamics of infections linked to known, emerging or new agents/contaminants in the environment and human and animal populations, which is reminiscent of the integrated One-Health / Eco-Health / Planetary Health approach.
