UM to Head National Avian Flu Research Project

COLLEGE PARK, Md.- The University of Maryland will head a new, far-reaching national research and education project on avian influenza, to be funded with a five-million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is the largest grant ever given by USDA to study a single animal disease or health threat.

Virologist Daniel Perez, University of Maryland assistant professor and an expert in avian influenza research, will serve as program director of the project, "Prevention and Control of Avian Influenza in the U.S." Researchers and extension specialists in 17 states will take part in the project to improve control of the disease.

Risks to Birds, Humans

Like the fox in the henhouse, avian flu wreaks havoc when it turns up in commercial poultry operations. In the past several years in the U.S., avian influenza has caused many millions of dollars in losses of commercial poultry, the most important source of meat protein in many countries around the world.

Avian influenza also has the potential to be a serious health risk to humans. Recent cases, in which humans have contracted a virulent strain of avian influenza directly from poultry in Asia and the Netherlands, have public health officials concerned that the virus could be passed between humans, kicking off a deadly pandemic, much like the influenza pandemic of 1918, which killed more than 600,000 people in the U.S.

Research, Education

Avian influenza originates in wild aquatic birds, natural hosts that rarely fall ill from the virus. "The problem starts when the virus jumps to other species," says Perez. "You can't eradicate the virus as long as there are aquatic birds."

The goals of the avian influenza project, "include epidemiology, diagnostics, vaccines, and education," says Perez, who studies how the avian influenza jumps between species. "We also will try to understand the molecular basis of why avian influenza causes diseases in terrestrial birds.

"The project will also have a huge education component, to educate people to the risks of avian influenza to birds and humans. It's important to make them realize that you can't mix avian species."

Research Consortium

Other institutions and states participating in the Maryland-led "Prevention and Control of Avian Influenza in the U.S." project include: Virginia Tech; Auburn University; University of California-Davis; University of Connecticut; University of Delaware; University of Georgia; Georgia Tech Research Institute; USDA-ARS-Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory; University of Minnesota; Ohio State University; Pennsylvania State University; University of Pennsylvania; Texas A&M University; and University of Wisconsin.

Also collaborating are University of Alabama-Birmingham, Vaxin, Inc., University of California-Fresno; North Carolina State University; Los Alamos National Laboratory; New York Department of Agriculture; St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital; and Utah State University.

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For more information on Avian Influenza: http://www.agnr.umd.edu/avianflu/ .

Frequently asked questions about Avian Influenza:

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