Capacity building in national influenza laboratories - use of laboratory assessments to drive progress

Background Laboratory testing is a fundamental component of influenza surveillance for detecting novel strains with pandemicpotential and informing biannual vaccine strain selection. The United States (U.S.) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), under the auspices of its WHO Collaborating Center for Influenza, is one of the major public health agencies which provides support globally to build national capacity for influenza surveillance. Our main objective was to determine if laboratory assessments supported capacity buildingefforts for improved global influenza surveillance.