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.
This report presents the results of the European External Influenza Quality Assessment Programme 2020 for influenza reference laboratories in the WHO European Region, designed and prepared by the contractor and funded by ECDC and WHO Regional Office for Europe.
This is the fifth survey assessing the capacity and needs of laboratories in the EU/EEA, with a focus on antigenic characterisation capability and capacity for SARS-CoV-2 viruses.
ECDC has worked with EU/EEA countries to develop a methodology for regular national reporting of existing national surveillance data on COVID-19 in LTCFs, aiming for maximum feasibility. This is to enable ECDC to communicate timely information on epidemiological trends of COVID-19 in LTCFs, in support of national and EU/EEA-level preparedness and response activities.
This document offers practical guidance for EU/EEA Member States on implementing genomic SARS-CoV-2 surveillance. It also includes advice on how to estimate the number of sequenced samples needed to achieve various objectives, including the early detection of novel variants.
Several SARS-CoV-2 variants have been identified. Some of these variants have mutations that (alone or in combination) may provide the virus with a selective advantage, such as increased transmissibility or the ability to evade the host immune response, or cause possible changes in pathogenicity, thus increasing disease severity.