Media: Europe tightens H5N1 surveillance as winter flu season looms - The risk of H5N1 combining with other influenza viruses is predicted to soar by

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21 November 2024 5:07pm GMT
Europe is ramping up monitoring for human cases of H5N1 avian influenzaahead of the winter flu season over fears of virus reassortment, health officials have said.

New guidelines from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) aim to ensure rapid detection of cases, including updates to testing protocols and symptom criteria.

“We are monitoring very closely because reassortment could occur,” Dr Angeliki Melidou, principal expert in respiratory viruses at the ECDC, toldThe Telegraph.

Reassortment—the mixing of genetic material between seasonal flu and animal flu-like H5N1—is more likely in winter, as flu cases surge.
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The ECDC’s updated guidance points to symptoms seen in recent North American cases, including milder cases where the only symptoms are conjunctivitis.

“We’ve updated our guidance to include milder symptoms in individuals exposed to birds or other animals,” Dr Melidou said. “The priority is to strengthen surveillance and ensure we monitor and follow up with exposed individuals.”
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continued: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-...ird-flu-winter-reassortment-ecdc-survillence/

 

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...from above:

Healthcare workers across Europe are now advised to ask patients with flu-like symptoms about recent contact with birds or other animals – a shift from standard influenza protocols.

The threshold for H5N1 testing has also been lowered to include individuals without known animal exposure, following cases in the US and Canada where infections occurred with no clear link to farmed animals.

Samples of any suspected cases should also now be sent to national influenza labs for sequencing, and any positive cases will be told to self-isolate.​​