Influenza presents a global health challenge due to its rapidly changing RNA genome. These mutations can result in serious health and economic consequences. To effectively manage outbreaks, reliable surveillance and diagnostic tools are crucial. ATCC plays a vital role in these efforts by offering high-quality reference materials that ensure precision in influenza research and diagnostic efforts. Here, we'll delve into the significance of influenza diagnostic surveillance and how ATCC contributes to these efforts.
Understanding the Impact of Human and Avian Influenza—an acute respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses—poses a major public health risk due to its potential for widespread illness and economic impact. Human influenza typically spreads via respiratory droplets or, less commonly, through contact with contaminated surfaces. The severity of infection can range from mild symptoms like fever, muscle aches, and congestion to extreme complications like pneumonia and death. The economic impact of human influenza is also significant; in the United States, total annual direct medical costs are estimated at $3.2 billion, whereas indirect costs accounted for $8.0 billion. In recent years, sporadic incidences of avian influenza in humans have been detected. Avian influenza, also known as bird flu, is naturally found among wild aquatic birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry and other animal species. While rare, human infection with avian influenza can result in mild to severe symptoms or even death. These infections can occur after close contact with infected birds. The virus can also spread through intermediate hosts, leading to new variants capable of infecting humans. In bird populations, avian influenza is particularly devastating, often resulting in large-scale deaths. Previous outbreaks of avian influenza in the poultry industry have led to significant economic losses for farmers, disruptions in the food supply chain, and potential impacts on international trade due to the need to cull infected flocks. The 2022 avian influenza outbreak in the United States, for instance, resulted in about 40 million animal losses and economic costs ranging from $2.5 to $3 billion. The recent detection of avian influenza H5N1 in milk samples has also put the dairy industry at risk. In affected cowherds, the illness impacts nearly 10% of the animals, causing reduced feed consumption and a 10% to 20% decline in milk production.17 The American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) has estimated the economic impact of H5N1 for dairy cattle to be $100 to $200 per cow, which can result in significant economic losses for dairy producers.
Surveillance testing remains indispensable for monitoring virus evolution, assessing disease burden, and informing vaccine development. For these tests to reliably detect new or emerging strains of influenza, it is essential that they are developed and routinely applied using authenticated analytical reference materials (ARMs). These authenticated ARMs provide the necessary controls for calibrating tests, verifying performance, and validating results, thereby ensuring test accuracy and reproducibility. Diagnostic tests may produce false results without them, compromising surveillance data and public health responses, and can also lead to challenges when making comparisons across different datasets produced by various testing methods.
How ATCC Can Help ATCC is at the forefront of developing new and reliable ARMs for accurate diagnostic testing, surveillance, and research for new and emerging influenza strains. Using synthetic biology technology, we have created synthetic RNA ARMs for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) strains and seasonal influenza viruses with increasing relevance. These ARMs represent the most extensive set of authenticated synthetic materials.
Read the full whitepaper: Influenza Diagnostic Surveillance | ATCC