New blood donation monitoring for viruses which could be driven to the UK by climate change

Blood donation bag NHS Blood and Transplant is from today creating a new warning system to detect newly emerging viruses potentially reaching the UK due to climate change.

Around 5,000 samples will be taken from consenting blood donors over the next few months, starting today [20 November 2024]. They will initially be used to detect tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), West Nile virus and Usutu virus.

No indigenous human cases of Usutu or West Nile virus have yet been found in the UK.

However, Usutu has been found in birds in the UK and mosquitos that can spread West Nile Virus have been recently detected in Southern England. TBEV has been detected in a small number of ticks in the UK, and four cases of TBEV infection likely acquired via a tick bite in the UK have been reported so far.

While the current risk is very low, NHSBT and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) have identified them as viruses which could spread as climate change drives mosquitos and ticks further north. Tests could be added for further potential emerging infections in the future.

The archive will be combined with data on donor exposures, travel history and vaccinations, collected by UKHSA. The archive will provide better data if these illnesses start circulating in the donor population and enable safety measures to be implemented faster.

The project will additionally link with UKHSA surveillance programmes, which monitor the spread of these infections in the general population.

The CODONET blood sample archive will be held by NHSBT at its Oxford blood centre, in collaboration with the Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory of the UK Health Security Agency. The research is led by the NIHR-funded Blood and Transplant Unit in Genomics, in collaboration with NHSBT.

Statements

Statement from Heli Harvala, Consultant Medical Virologist for NHS Blood and Transplant

“This targeted sampling of donors provides a response capability in the event of future infectious disease threats to blood safety arising from climate change.

“By combining the test results with travel and vaccination history, we can estimate how likely it is that people got their infections here or whether the antibodies might be from vaccination.

“It also provides the means to demonstrate that a virus is not present in the blood donor population, which is equally important operationally and would guide future testing strategies.”

Statement from Peter Simmonds, Director of the NIHR Blood and Transplant Research Unit in Genomics, and a Professor of Virology at the University of Oxford

“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. There are potentially additional uses for wider surveillance required by NHSBT or UKHSA.”

Statement from Dr Amanda Semper, Project Lead at the UK Health Security Agency

“Infections such as West Nile and Usutu aren’t currently found in the UK, 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.

"This new programme will help deepen our surveillance, acting as an early warning of infections for when they do arrive here, further strengthening our ability to detect them early.”

Statement from Dr Lise Estcourt, Medical Director for Transfusion at NHS Blood and Transplant

“This work reflects how blood safety and surveillance continues to be transformed and improved since the era covered by the Infected Blood Inquiry – with CODONET, we are proactively already putting in place surveillance measures for infections which may one day spread due to climate change but which are not present in the UK’s general population, building our experience, networks and tools.”

Statement from Professor James Neuberger, Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (SaBTO)

“SaBTO works closely with NHSBT and the UK Health Security Agency to determine how best to protect patients from the risk of new and emerging infections.

"Especially with climate change and increasing mobility of people, the risk to the safety of blood remains a major concern and we, with our partners, remain vigilant to detect new and changing risks and put measures in place to protect the public.”

Statement from Steve Oliver, a survivor of testicular cancer and a member of the NIHR Blood and Transplant Unit in Genomics patient and public involvement and engagement group