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.
The joint annual influenza surveillance meeting by ECDC and the WHO Regional Office for Europe took place on 6 - 8 June 2018 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Invited participants were epidemiological and virological surveillance experts nominated by national health authorities as well as representatives from international institutions, covering the 53 countries of the EU/EEA and the WHO European region. The meeting was by invitation only.
The main objectives of ERLI-Net are to carry out virological surveillance of human influenza and to ensure that data are shared through the European Influenza Surveillance Network (EISN) reporting mechanisms in a timely manner.
In accordance with the Key Tasks, ERLI-Net laboratories should participate in external quality assurance (EQA) schemes. EQA panels are distributed by both ERLI-Net and the WHO.
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.