This document aims to provide guidance for public health and laboratory experts in identifying human infections with animal influenza viruses as early as possible to provide early warning and inform risk assessments and public health measures.
Following the emergence of swine influenza A(H3N2) variant (v) viruses with sporadic human infections in North America, the Community Network of Reference Laboratories (CNRL) and the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency completed an exercise to assess the CNRL’s capability to detect novel reassortant and circulating triple reassortant swine viruses (TRA) in humans.
Following the emergence of swine influenza A(H3N2) variant (v) viruses with sporadic human infections in North America, ECDC and the Community Network of Reference Laboratories (CNRL) disseminated a questionnaire to explore the RT-PCR capability of influenza reference laboratories in EU/EEA countries to detect A(H3N2)v viruses in their day-to-day diagnostics and to subtype them as swine-origin variant viruses.
The working group for Surveillance studies in a pandemic (SSiaP) met for the fourth time on 14–15 July 2009, in Stockholm. The final report of that meeting presents the outcomes of the discussions on addressing the challenges for surveillance during a pandemic.