ATS Labs offers testing of antimicrobial products for efficacy against H7N9 virus

ATS Labs announced today that they are pleased to offer testing of antimicrobial products for efficacy against avian influenza A (H7N9) virus. Avian influenza A (H7N9) virus, called H7N9 for short, has infected humans in China causing severe respiratory illness. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately one-third of those infected have died.  Avian influenza H7 viruses belong to a subgroup of viruses that typically circulate among birds; H7N9 has been isolated in poultry in China.  Although some H7 viruses have occasionally infected humans, no H7N9 virus infections have been reported until this recent outbreak in China.

Current data suggests that H7N9 is not easily spread by person-to-person contact but rather by exposure to infected poultry or to the contaminated environment where the infected birds have been maintained.  According to the CDC, the concern is that the H7N9 virus will change in such a way that the virus gains the ability to spread easily and sustainably among people triggering a global pandemic.  The 2009 H1N1 pandemic occurred due to such a change that created a new virus which humans had little or no immunity against.  For this reason, it is important to have antimicrobial products available that have proven efficacy against H7N9.

"As the leader in virucidal efficacy testing, ATS Labs is excited to include H7N9 in our library of more than 200 different virus strains to help combat this potential public health threat" states Thomas Burnell, PhD, Executive Chairman of ATS Labs.  "The addition of H7N9 to our list of influenza viruses, including H5N1 and H1N1, provides developers of antimicrobial products with comprehensive options to help support their product registrations within the United States, Canada, and abroad".

SOURCE ATS Labs