Abstract Title
Building effective surveillance for risk assessment and early response to zoonotic influenzas
Abstract
Assessing zoonotic and pandemic risk of avian influenza viruses (AIV) is challenging due to gaps in global surveillance systems and inconsistent reporting. AIV poses a threat to global food security, human health and animal health and welfare, yet current surveillance fails to provide adequate information to conduct rapid risk assessment. Quantitative analysis combining genomic and epidemiological data for zoonotic AIV was undertaken using disease reports and genetic data, identifying variables of interest. We find that reporting requirements in animals vary across AIV pathotypes and this does not align with zoonotic risk, which results in a poor understanding of the circulation of many zoonotic viruses. Genomic surveillance in animals is skewed towards high pathogenicity subtypes and concentrated in high-income countries, leaving gaps in our understanding of zoonotic evolution and pre-pandemic capabilities. Surveillance in humans fails to capture non-severe cases which may delay detection of human-to-human spread. Limited information is available on circulation of low pathogenicity AIV in birds and assessments of zoonotic spillover events frequently neglect the role of livestock production systems as a driver of disease and viral evolution. We recommend implementing risk-based surveillance at key interfaces to facilitate early warning of zoonotic disease spread and speed up pre-pandemic preparedness efforts based on an understanding of the complexities of varied global production systems and cultural practices and their zoonotic spillover risk across diverse settings.
Co-Author(s)
Amelia Coggon*1, Nicola Lewis1,2, Barbara Häsler1
1Department of Pathobiology and Population Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, London, UK
2Worldwide Influenza Centre, London, UK
Abstract Category
Avian influenza in mammals, pandemic preparedness, and one health