Virus early warning system

The Health Ministry has announced the operation of the National Network of Health Observers in primary healthcare, Sentinel, to monitor respiratory viruses and possible outbreaks.

The Epidemiological Surveillance and Control of Infectious Diseases Unit is upgrading epidemiological data collection through a digitised process as part of a significant reorganisation.

The project’s expenditure is funded by the EU Recovery and Resilience Fund.

The primary goal of the network is the surveillance of respiratory viruses (influenza, SARS-CoV-2, RSV) to enable the study of the seasonality of these viruses.

It hopes to achieve effective detection and early warning of possible epidemic outbreaks in Cyprus.

Furthermore, the information will be used for real-time public health measures and to develop medium- to long-term public health strategies.

Each year, a representative number of influenza-positive biological samples are sent to the World Health Organisation Influenza Report to produce the following year’s flu vaccine, including virus variants that prevailed in Cyprus.