World-first genetic warning system for future pandemics and diseases launches in UK
World-first genetic warning system for future pandemics and diseases launches in UK
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A world-first genetic warning system for future pandemics and emerging diseases has been launched in the UK. The surveillance programme, run by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), will see experts rapidly checking NHS samples for pathogens that could lead to serious outbreaks.
Experts believe if such a system had been around pre-Covid-19, the virus would have been spotted much more quickly and there would have been early signs it was taking root in the UK. Traditionally, genomic methods rely on scientists or medics knowing what virus or bacteria they are looking for when they test a swab sample.
But a more detailed method – known as metagenomics – means they do not need to know what the pathogen is, and they can test samples to find new ones. This is a hugely exciting development which will increase our ability to respond at speed to new and emerging pathogens and will help to ensure that we are as prepared as possible to act quickly and effectively to protect the public from future threats.
All this information is also now being fed to the UKHSA at a national level, bringing together samples from NHS hospitals across England to spot trends and emerging clusters of disease. By significantly improving the identification of new outbreaks as well as enabling the source of an outbreak to be better understood, the UKHSA said predictions could also be made about the effectiveness of potential treatments, and any concerning mutations could be identified.
Professor Susan Hopkins, UKHSA chief medical adviser, said: “Genomics has been a crucial aspect of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic from the very start, and the UK’s enormous technical expertise in this area has allowed us to play a leading role in the identification and analysis of Covid-19 variants as they emerge.”.
