The deadly H5N1 avian influenza has infected birds in 48 countries, killed almost 150 people and has the potential to become a global pandemic.

Now the disease has become the focus of four UC Davis researchers—a wildlife health expert, a poultry veterinarian and two physicians—who have combined their expertise to better inform the public about bird flu.

"There was an awareness that each of us, whether in poultry, wildlife or human health, was seeing the same train heading down the track straight toward us," said Walter Boyce, the School of Veterinary Medicine's Wildlife Health Center director.

"It became clear that questions and answers cut across disciplines and species, and that we could help each other"—and by doing so, help the country prepare.

Boyce, UC Cooperative Extension veterinarian Carol Cardona and UC Davis Medical Center physicians Warner Hudson and Christian Sandrock joined forces in August 2005. They have since logged hundreds of interviews with the media, elected officials, health-care providers and community groups.

The inter-disciplinary team is also preparing a "Flu School" curriculum to update health professionals and the public on avian influenza, and Boyce and Cardona are working to secure funding for a center devoted to research and testing of influenza viruses in animals and humans.

For more information, please view the UC Davis 2006 Annual Report.

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