Technical note: Laboratory Diagnosis of Human Infection with Influenza A/H5

Since the beginning of 2022, multiple avian influenza outbreaks caused by Influenza A/H5 has been detected in countries of the Andean Region and North America. Avian influenza (AI) is a highly contagious viral disease that affects both domestic and wild birds and is caused by multiple subtypes (i.e. H5N1, H5N3, H5N8 etc.) whose genetic characteristics rapidly evolve.