A university-led research program has started its second phase of bird flu research thanks to a new $5 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture, following the program’s success in developing vaccines and other innovations in the past three years.

As the only national program funded by the USDA, the Avian Influenza Coordinated Agricultural Project (AICAP) was first established in 2005 with a $5 million USDA grant, said Siba Samal, a member of the research team. Led by associate professor Daniel Perez, the project focuses on studying how the virus works, how to detect it and stop it from spreading, as well as creating public awareness.

And with their newest batch of funds, researchers believe AICAP will be better than ever.

The grant money will allow project members to use better equipment, which in turn will attract more experts to come work with the team, said associate professor Nathaniel Tablante, a researcher for the project. The project is also expected to garner global attention because the bird flu is such a prevalent problem worldwide.

His colleagues agree.

“This gives a lot of visibility to the University of Maryland internationally,” Samal said. “The research that we do will bring new vaccines … and a name for the university.”

Since its launch, AICAP has been responsible for developing vaccines for different strains of the bird flu, Tablante said. AICAP has also created better ways to detect the virus to reduce false positives.

In addition, Tablante designed training programs to teach workers and emergency personnel what to do in case of an outbreak. He and George Malone, a poultry specialist from the University of Delaware, traveled across the country, giving PowerPoint presentations that trained more than 3,000 people to properly kill infected birds and dispose of their remains. To give his training seminar a more hands-on approach, Tablante admitted, he used rubber chickens in his demonstrations.

Bird flu is responsible for killing many chickens and other poultry worldwide, affecting the global economy. At its present state, the virus is only transmissible to people when poultry workers come in direct contact with infected birds, Tablante said.

But Samal warned eventually the virus may mutate into a form that can be spread among humans.

“It’s a very serious disease because [we] do not have antibodies to avian flu,” Samal said. “The flu is very easy to spread. It can kill humans like flies. It can cause pandemics.”

Despite this grave assessment, Tablante said he does not believe the virus will affect Americans.

“I’m more of an optimist.” Tablante said. “At least here from the U.S. standpoint, we have a well-trained group of people … that can handle any outbreak.”

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