$3.8 million grant to support bird flu research

Submitted by Marie Gilbert
Phone: (907) 474-7412
04/02/07

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FAIRBANKS, Alaska--The University of Alaska Fairbanks announced today a $3.8 million grant for its role in one of six national centers to study influenza viruses with pandemic potential, such as avian influenza H5N1.

UAF is a partner in an $18.5 million National Institutes of Health award made to the University of California, Los Angeles for creation of the Center for Rapid Influenza Surveillance and Research.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the NIH, is awarding $23 million per year for seven years to establish six Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance.

"Our initial focus is on known avian reservoirs of influenza-A viruses such as waterfowl and shorebirds,"? said Jonathan Runstadler, Institute of Arctic Biology assistant professor of biology and wildlife and the lead CRISAR investigator for UAF. "However, little is known about the role of the environment and about other groups of birds in the maintenance and evolution of influenza viruses worldwide.

"We want to understand how influenza viruses evolve, adapt and are successfully transmitted in nature,"? said Runstadler. "No one fully understands how these viruses move around between species and in our environment."?

More than 450 species of migratory birds from six continents come to Alaska to nest each spring and summer. Scientists say that could provide an opportunity for exchange of bird flu viruses which could then infect humans.

"Alaska is recognized as a prime location for transmission and reassortment of influenza-A virus strains between birds that migrate north from both eastern and western hemispheres,"? said George Happ, CRISAR co-investigator and director of the NIH IDeA Network for Biomedical Research Excellence at UA, which has supported UAF’s avian influenza work since 2004.

"Our major goal is to understand the genetic changes of flu viruses and how those changes relate to their success in animal hosts and their persistence in the environment,"? said Happ. "Alaska is a critical location to study the evolution of new strains of influenza in wild birds and their movement along avian flyways. The research of Kevin Winker at the University of Alaska Museum of the North and of our CRISAR group will include surveillance to isolate potentially pandemic strains of the influenza virus."?

UAF researchers expect to collect and test 4,000 samples from Alaska and another 4,000 samples from Russia and northern Japan each year for five years beginning this May. Fieldwork in the Russian Far East will be coordinated by Falk Huettmann, IAB assistant professor of wildlife ecology. Samples which test positive will be further characterized by the CRISAR group that includes UAF; University of California, Davis; UCLA; Wildlife Conservation Society; and the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

"At UAF, we will use the genetic information from UC Davis to continually refine existing studies and develop new research on the ecology of the influenza virus and the immune response of birds,"? Runstadler said.

The CRISAR partners together plan to collect and screen at least 20,000 cloacal samples from wild and domestic animals at key sites in the western United States and Asia each year.

CONTACT:

Jonathan Runstadler, assistant professor of molecular biology, Institute of Arctic Biology and Department of Biology and Wildlife, UAF, (907) 474-7038, jonathan.runstadler@uaf.edu

George Happ, director, Alaska IDeA Networks for Biomedical Research Excellence, UAF, (907) 474-5492, ffgmh@uaf.edu.

Marie Gilbert, publications and information coordinator, Institute of Arctic Biology, UAF, (907) 474-7412, marie.gilbert@uaf.edu

About the National Institutes of Health:

NIH is the nation’s medical research agency which includes 27 institutes and centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov. NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is a component of the National Institutes of Health. NIAID supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose and treat infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, influenza, tuberculosis, malaria and illness from potential agents of bioterrorism. NIAID also supports research on basic immunology, transplantation and immune-related disorders, including autoimmune diseases, asthma and allergies.

About the UAF IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence:

The University of Alaska INBRE, funded by NIH, helps build biomedical research capacity in infectious diseases. When H5N1 became a global public health priority in 2004, INBRE enabled UA to immediately collect and screen for influenza virus in Alaska birds. UAF students are now investigating the biology of the virus and the hosts. CRISAR will expand the scope of UA’s research on avian influenza, an important facet of new and expanding biomedical programs at UA.