Another application of metaproteomics lies in "pandemic preparedness" within a One Health framework. For example, tracking pathogen concentrations in wastewater treatment plants, as seen with COVID-19, enables early detection of disease outbreaks before hospitals or government agencies identify them. Sequencing methods with low detection limits (enabled by gene amplification) are primarily used for such monitoring. As demonstrated with the selective enrichment of COVID-19 peptides using advanced mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), proteomic methods could also play a valuable role in pandemic preparedness, offering timely and reliable pathogen monitoring [142], enabling to monitoring the actual expression of the pathogens.