In the United States, significant cuts to a major disease surveillance program have raised alarms among public health experts. The American Society for Microbiology sent a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee in April, indicating that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has exhausted all available supplemental funding for wastewater surveillance. Without additional funding, the national program will cease to operate after September 30, 2026. This program is crucial for tracking infectious diseases, including COVID-19, and its potential loss could hinder the ability to monitor outbreaks effectively. The COVID-19 'cicada variant' has been detected in various states, including California, Florida, and New York, through the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS). Experts have expressed concerns about this variant's mutations, which may allow it to evade immunity in the population. Although it is currently spreading slowly and rarely becomes the dominant variant, there is apprehension that it could mutate further and become more transmissible. The WastewaterSCAN program, run by Stanford University and Emory University, has also identified the variant in several states, highlighting the importance of wastewater surveillance in tracking such diseases. Public health practitioners and scientists have warned that the proposed funding cuts could severely impact the ability to track not only COVID-19 but also other infectious diseases like measles, hantavirus, and Ebola. The People's CDC, a coalition of public health professionals, is actively encouraging constituents to contact their congressional representatives to express their concerns about the potential gutting of the wastewater surveillance system. As of the latest reports, over 2,880 letters have been sent, nearing the coalition's goal of 3,000. Experts argue that the proposed annual funding of $25 million would only be sufficient to support wastewater surveillance in a few states, limiting the ability to respond to outbreaks effectively. The loss of national coverage would be detrimental, as it would prevent timely detection of pathogens and hinder public health responses. The current situation underscores the critical need for sustained investment in public health infrastructure, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure that communities can respond swiftly to emerging health threats.