FAIRBANKS, AlaskaThe University of Alaska Fairbanks announced today a $3.8 million award for its role in one of six National Institutes of Health Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance to study influenza viruses with pandemic potential, such as avian influenza H5N1.

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

"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."

"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.

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.

"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 locatio
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Contact: Marie Gilbert
marie.gilbert@uaf.edu
907-474-7412
University of Alaska Fairbanks
2-Apr-2007