The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has announced the expansion of its wastewater and environmental surveillance programme, named PRISM (Pathogen Risk Intelligence through Surveillance and Modelling). This initiative aims to enhance the UK's capacity to detect pathogens that pose a significant public health threat.
Over the next two years, a £3 million investment from the UK Integrated Security Fund (ISF) will enable UKHSA laboratories to scale up this work. The surveillance will be extended to targeted hospital wastewater sites and high-footfall locations, such as transport hubs.
PRISM builds on a development programme launched in April 2025, which tested new technologies for detecting dangerous viruses in wastewater. The new system is designed to be pathogen-agnostic, meaning it can potentially identify known threats, novel variations, and previously undetected pathogens from a single sample.
Professor Robin May, Chief Scientific Officer at UKHSA, stated that PRISM sets the foundations for a powerful early warning system. He added that the system will help respond swiftly to protect the public before problems reach hospitals and communities. The programme also aims to track seasonal illnesses like norovirus, which can pressure the NHS, and strengthen the UK's response to antimicrobial resistance by monitoring drug-resistant bacteria and fungi.