Avian Influenza H5N8 outbreak in Europe

The recent outbreaks of the avian influenza subtype H5N8 in three European countries had substantial economic effects for poultry farms. For eradication actions, the animals of the affected farms had to be killed, while non-affected farms are suffering by temporary quarantine sanctions and uncertainty of consumers.

The transmission route of these outbreaks remains to be unclear so far. Monitoring of poultry farms for presence of the avian influenza A virus is of emerging interest. Several strains consisting of different Haemagglutinin (H) and Neuramidase (N) proteins show different pathogenic impact and different zoonotic potential. For monitoring this, identification of the different subtypes of Influenza A H5, H7, H9 and subsequent identification of positive results for epidemiology is important.

Rapid screening of avian influenza by reverse transcriptase qPCR

The SureFast^® kits for DNA/RNA preparation and the new multiplex kits with internal amplification control (IAC)

• SureFast® Influenza A PLUS (Art. No. F7103)
• SureFast® Influenza A H5/H7/H9 3plex (Art. No. F7139)
• SureFast® PREP DNA/RNA Virus (Art. No. F1051)

enable laboratories to start immediately with relevant screening and analysis of animal samples.

These kits can be used on all common real-time thermocyclers equipped with the detection channels FAM, VIC, Cy5 (522nm, 553nm, 670nm). The delivered internal control RNA can be used either for internal amplification control or as extraction control. A sensitivity of ≤ 50 RNA copies has been determined. This ready to use system is part of a broad SureFast^® portfolio to detect bacteria and viruses in food, feed and animals.

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