CSU awarded grant for bird flu research

Scientists seeking to improve how disease is tracked

Jim Erickson, Rocky Mountain News

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Colorado State University researchers have been awarded a $2.6 million federal grant to study how interactions between birds and people may spread avian influenza.

The three-year study will be conducted in the Western United States and central Indonesia. It is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In Indonesia, scientists will study how people infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus interacted with birds carrying the germ.

In the U.S., where the highly pathogenic H5N1 has not been detected, they will examine the various ways birds enter the Western states and come in contact with humans.

The goal of the U.S. part of the study is to strengthen H5N1 monitoring efforts and prevent an outbreak in poultry and people.

Small, noncommercial or semi- commercial "backyard flocks" of poultry are common in the Western U.S. but are poorly monitored. If the H5N1 virus enters the United States, the people who care for those flocks could be at risk, according to agricultural officials.

Similar flocks exist in Indonesia.

By studying backyard flocks, the Colorado State researchers will help agriculture and health officials monitor the birds' health, track the spread of disease if an outbreak occurs, and inform flock owners about biosecurity and avian influenza.

In Indonesia, the researchers will study birds that have been vaccinated against avian influenza. Some scientists believe that inferior vaccines may have produced partially immune Indonesian poultry.

The concern is that inferior vaccines may help the virus mutate into a form that more easily spreads from birds to humans.

ericksonj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5129