Edastuskiri

To: National Focal Points for Viral Respiratory Diseases, Operational Contact Points (Epi, Micro)  for influenza

Cc: National Coordinators

Dear Colleagues,

With this email we would like to inform you about the recently published ECDC EQA report produced through AURORAE consortium: External quality assessment for molecular detection, subtyping and characterisation of potentially zoonotic type A influenza viruses, 2024 External quality assessment for molecular detection, subtyping and characterisation of potentially zoonotic type A influenza viruses, 2024

This EQA was performed in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA), Western Balkan countries and Türkiye.

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀:
✅ All laboratories correctly detected influenza A viruses and identified the H5 subtype.
✅ 20 out of 30 laboratories could detect H5N1 at very low concentrations (8.11 genome copies/µl).
✅ Most laboratories demonstrated capacity in sequencing, but only some achieved full subtype and clade assignments.

𝗚𝗮𝗽𝘀 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱:
⚠️ Limited sensitivity in some tests
⚠️ Incomplete H- and N-subtyping, especially for swine influenza viruses
⚠️ Need for broader sequencing capacity and improved reporting
⚠️ Training required in using bioinformatics tools for genetic data interpretation

Best regards,

The ECDC Respiratory Viruses section