A recent publication by Sun H. and colleagues in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) has drown global attention to the predominant genotype "G4" Eurasian (EA) avian-like H1N1 In uenza A virus that has been spreading among pigs in China since 2016, which is predicted to have a signi cant pandemic potential. Since pigs are hosts for the generation of pandemic In uenza A viruses (IAVs), surveillance and preparedness are critical to prevent pandemics. In this regards, one distinguishing feature of the QIAstat-Dx ® Respiratory SARS-CoV-2 panel is the double target approach In uenza A detection of seasonal strains affecting humans, by ampli cation of a generic In uenza A assay plus one of the speci c assays discriminating H3, H1 and H1N1pdm09 subtypes. The generic In uenza A assay is designed to amplify any IAV, a key feature for preparedness. Here we report an initial in-silico analysis that predicts that the G4 EA avian-like H1N1 strains tested in the QIAstat-Dx ® Respiratory SARS-CoV-2 Panel would be detected yielding a positive result for the generic In uenza A assay and negative results for the seasonal H3, H1 and H1N1pdm09 assays. This prediction was con rmed in-vitro using dsDNA fragments mixed to mimic the genomes of the different reported G4 EA IAV strains. In conclusion, the QIAstat-Dx ® Respiratory SARS-CoV-2 Panel could be a useful tool to differentially diagnose zoonotic strains from the seasonal In uenza A strains commonly affecting humans.

No abstract

In response to: Multiple assays in a real-time RT-PCR severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) panel can mitigate the risk of loss of sensitivity by new genomic variants during the COVID-19 outbreak

Recent reports from the World Health Organization regarding Influenza A cases of zoonotic origin in humans (H1v and H9N2) and publications describing emergence swine Influenza A cases in humans together with “G4” Eurasian avian-like H1N1 Influenza A virus have drawn global attention to Influenza A pandemic threat. Additionally, the current COVID-19 epidemic has stressed the importance of surveillance and preparedness to prevent potential outbreaks. One feature of the QIAstat-Dx Respiratory SARS-CoV-2 panel is the double target approach for Influenza A detection of seasonal strains affecting humans using a generic Influenza A assay plus the three specific human subtype assays. This work explores the potential use of this double target approach in the QIAstat-Dx Respiratory SARS-Co-V-2 Panel as a tool to detect zoonotic Influenza A strains. A set of recently recorded H9 and H1 spillover strains and the G4 EA Influenza A strains as example of recent zoonotic Flu A strains were subjected to detection prediction with QIAstat-Dx Respiratory SARS-CoV-2 Panel using commercial synthetic dsDNA sequences. In addition, a large set of available commercial human and non-human influenza A strains were also tested using QIAstat-Dx Respiratory SARS-CoV-2 Panel for a better understanding of detection and discrimination of Influenza A strains. Results show that QIAstat-Dx Respiratory SARS-CoV-2 Panel generic Influenza A assay detects all the recently recorded H9, H5 and H1 zoonotic spillover strains and all the G4 EA Influenza A strains. Additionally, these strains yielded negative results for the three-human seasonal IAV (H1, H3 and H1N1 pandemic) assays. Additional non-human strains corroborated those results of Flu A detection with no subtype discrimination, whereas human Influenza strains were positively discriminated. These results indicate that QIAstat-Dx Respiratory SARS-CoV-2 Panel could be a useful tool to diagnose zoonotic Influenza A strains and differentiate them from the seasonal strains commonly affecting humans.

A recent publication by Sun H. and colleagues in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) has drown global attention to the predominant genotype “G4” Eurasian (EA) avian-like H1N1 Influenza A virus that has been spreading among pigs in China since 2016, which is predicted to have a significant pandemic potential. Since pigs are hosts for the generation of pandemic Influenza A viruses (IAVs), surveillance and preparedness are critical to prevent pandemics. In this regards, one distinguishing feature of the QIAstat-Dx® Respiratory SARS-CoV-2 panel is the double target approach Influenza A detection of seasonal strains affecting humans, by amplification of a generic Influenza A assay plus one of the specific assays discriminating H3, H1 and H1N1pdm09 subtypes. The generic Influenza A assay is designed to amplify any IAV, a key feature for preparedness. Here we report an initial in-silico analysis that predicts that the G4 EA avian-like H1N1 strains tested in the QIAstat-Dx® Respiratory SARS-CoV-2 Panel would be detected yielding a positive result for the generic Influenza A assay and negative results for the seasonal H3, H1 and H1N1pdm09 assays. This prediction was confirmed in-vitro using dsDNA fragments mixed to mimic the genomes of the different reported G4 EA IAV strains. In conclusion, the QIAstat-Dx® Respiratory SARS-CoV-2 Panel could be a useful tool to differentially diagnose zoonotic strains from the seasonal Influenza A strains commonly affecting humans.