Project 4R01AI069274-09 – Total funding: $605,206



Transmissibility of Avian Influenza Viruses in Mammals (NIAID support ended in August 2021)

Source: 
https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9121375

H5N1, a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, does not transmit among mammals. The researchers aim to make the virus able to transmit in order to assess its pandemic potential. 
According to the project’s description, “no sustained human-to-human transmission has yet been reported. Several attempts in the past to select transmissible H5 viruses (which typically do not transmit among mammals) were not successful”. That is why the researchers “plan to passage non-transmissible viruses of different genetic backgrounds in ferrets (an established influenza virus transmission model) to select transmissible mutants”. Selected mutations will be characterized for their biological effects and the potential of H5N1 to transmit in mammals.