Is avian flu causing a strain on the world?

The current variant of avian flu is extremely transmissible and spreading globally to a wider range of animals compared to previous avian flu outbreaks. It is challenging to fully calculate just how widespread the virus is, and how many birds, poultry and mammals are affected and dying. Not all deceased animals are found, and not all are tested for influenza.

At present, managing the outbreak involves the collection of diagnostic samples to understand if people are infected with avian flu, how widespread the virus is, and how many birds, poultry, and other mammals are dying due to this. For diagnostic samples, if the time from collection to analysis is greater than 72 hours, then appropriate frozen storage is required. The samples need to be stored at a temperature of at least –70°C to ensure viral survival. Anything above this temperature risks viral death, and so maintaining this temperature throughout the whole freezer is essential.

In this case study, Techcomp Lab Products outlines how Trust freezers have excellent temperature homogeneity throughout the full freezer. Reaching temperatures as low as –80°C, the Trust freezers ensure that samples maintain their integrity, which is essential for generating viable and reproducible data. The freezers are available in three volumes: 340, 515 and 690 L with a minimum footprint – this is equivalent to storage for up to 48,000 cryotubes (2 mL). The Trust range has been developed for the long-term storage of samples, and priority has been given to fast temperature recovery without compromising the power consumption.