As more cases of H5N1 pop up around the U.S. and the globe, new vaccines and testing methods are being explored. A new rapid, handheld, point-of-need molecular diagnostic test from Alveo Technologies can detect the variants of avian flu found in the recent Colorado infections of humans and cattle.
On July 15 and 16, the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data database released the genetic sequence of the H5N1 viruses that recently infected one of the dairy farm workers in Colorado. Notably, GISAID said that a “mammalian adaptation marker (E627K) was noted in one of the farm workers.”
The cattle outbreak has caused enough concern in Europe that the UK Health Security Agency released a report in May increased its assessment of the likelihood that the virus mutates to spread efficiently between people from 0 to 5 percent to between 10 and 35 percent.
That being said, “There are up to 198 possible types of influenza B, and some of them are not going to infect people that well, which is the case in H5N1,” Dr. Andrea Love told AGDAILY during an interview in June.
Alveo Technologies using in silico (meaning through computer analysis against genetic sequences), –a rapid, hand held point of need molecular diagnostic tool — analyzed their Avian influenza A subtype H5 LAMP tests using recent human and bovine sequences from GISAID. The results indicate that Alveo’s H5 tests match all 12 reported H5 sequences. This means the LAMP Avian influenza test can detect all 12 sequences in clade 4.3.4.4b H5N1, including those found in humans.
Alveo says that the Flockscreen LAMP Avian Influenza Molecular Test for poultry, the first diagnostic of its kind can test both cloacal and oropharyngeal samples. The company is now actively working to validate avian influenza diagnostics for both human and bovine use cases.
“Avian influenza has already caused enormous damage to the poultry industry and has devastated populations of wild birds,” said Shaun Holt, CEO of Alveo Technologies. “These initial results, indicating we can detect the virus in cattle and humans in addition to poultry, is confirmation of our rigor in the product development process and is very much aligned with our strategic positioning at the intersection of human, animal, and food health.”
