Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), West Nile virus, and Usutu virus are found in ticks, mosquitoes and birds respectively. While no human cases have been discovered in the UK, NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warn that with the progression of climate change, these ticks and mosquitoes could be driven north into the UK.
‘Infections such as West Nile and Usutu aren’t currently found in the UK,’ said UKHSA project lead Dr Amanda Semper. ‘But there is an increasing risk of mosquito-borne infections in this country, driven by climate and environmental change, the globalisation of travel and trade, and changes in land use.’
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NHSBT have developed a new blood monitoring system ‘CODONET’ – a blood sample archive to detect and warn of any new viruses entering the UK. The archive will be held at the NHSBT Oxford blood centre in partnership with the UKHSA Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory, and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Blood and Transplant Unit in Genomics. Starting 20 November 2024, 5,000 voluntary samples will be collected and analysed to detect either TBEV, West Nile virus and Usutu, and will be combined with data from the donors ‘travel and vaccination history, and their exposure,’ said NIHR Blood and Transplant Unit in Genomics director and virology professor at University of Oxford, Peter Simmonds:
‘CODONET is an archive of blood donor samples, where we will also collate their travel and vaccination history, and their exposure to ticks, mosquitos or other animals.
This would allow us to immediately initiate targeted screening in particular blood centres or specific postcodes and obtain study samples that are appropriately consented for surveillance studies or other purposes.’