Flu-MAP
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Infectious Disease
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Technical Summary
The UK poultry industry is experiencing severe socio-economic damage and threats from high pathogenicity avian influenza viruses (HPAIVs) H5Nx of clade 2.3.4.4. These viruses pose zoonotic infections risks. The rapid evolution of these viruses is modulating their biological behaviour (epidemiology, host-range, transmission, and pathogenesis) in different avian species. To determine potential risks and improve controls against these emerging and re-emerging viruses requires a comprehensive knowledge base about the nature of prevailing viruses, and an integrated cross-disciplinary approach to studying virus ecology and epidemiology based on understanding virus/host interactions, and the genetic determinants of virulence, transmissibility and antigenicity in wild birds/poultry.
This project will investigate how contemporary H5Nx HPAIVs acquire adaptive changes to increase fitness within domestic and wild avian populations. We will define viral and host factors that potentially contribute to increased transmissibility, persistence, and pathogenicity in wild birds and those that enhance their potential to disseminate and manifest disease in poultry. Evolutionary changes drive virological, immunological and zoonotic infection potential of these viruses therefore, our understanding of environmental and molecular correlates required or associated with successful evolution, immune escape, dissemination and maintenance of HPAIVs via migratory populations of wild birds will be developed. Furthermore, we will define molecular markers for successful interspecies transmission and fitness in poultry with severe clinical outcomes. The will provide insights for assessing threats from new and emerging strains, enabling national and international agencies to design and execute contingencies as part of risk mitigation and disease control. This will provide vital information when considering how to invest scarce resources for surveillance design aimed at early warning of the threat.
This project will investigate how contemporary H5Nx HPAIVs acquire adaptive changes to increase fitness within domestic and wild avian populations. We will define viral and host factors that potentially contribute to increased transmissibility, persistence, and pathogenicity in wild birds and those that enhance their potential to disseminate and manifest disease in poultry. Evolutionary changes drive virological, immunological and zoonotic infection potential of these viruses therefore, our understanding of environmental and molecular correlates required or associated with successful evolution, immune escape, dissemination and maintenance of HPAIVs via migratory populations of wild birds will be developed. Furthermore, we will define molecular markers for successful interspecies transmission and fitness in poultry with severe clinical outcomes. The will provide insights for assessing threats from new and emerging strains, enabling national and international agencies to design and execute contingencies as part of risk mitigation and disease control. This will provide vital information when considering how to invest scarce resources for surveillance design aimed at early warning of the threat.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Wendy Barclay (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Byrne AMP
(2023)
Investigating the Genetic Diversity of H5 Avian Influenza Viruses in the United Kingdom from 2020-2022.
in Microbiology spectrum
Damdinjav B
(2025)
Evidence of Influenza A(H5N1) Spillover Infections in Horses, Mongolia.
in Emerging infectious diseases
Falchieri M
(2022)
Shift in HPAI infection dynamics causes significant losses in seabird populations across Great Britain.
in The Veterinary record
Falchieri M
(2024)
Rapid mortality in captive bush dogs (Speothos venaticus) caused by influenza A of avian origin (H5N1) at a wildlife collection in the United Kingdom.
in Emerging microbes & infections
François S
(2023)
Genetic diversity, recombination and cross-species transmission of a waterbird gammacoronavirus in the wild.
in The Journal of general virology
Furness RW
(2023)
Environmental Samples Test Negative for Avian Influenza Virus H5N1 Four Months after Mass Mortality at A Seabird Colony.
in Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland)
Fusaro A
(2024)
High pathogenic avian influenza A(H5) viruses of clade 2.3.4.4b in Europe-Why trends of virus evolution are more difficult to predict.
in Virus evolution
| Description | There is a current outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza on an unprecedented scale. The virus has evolved from one that circulated between 2014-2020. We have found that the extensive reassortment during those years whereby the virus acquired gene segments from other low pathogenicity avian influenza viruses in wild birds, has resulted in a large increase in its fitness. |
| Exploitation Route | We now aim to extend our research to understand the of this widespread virus to other wild mammals and also to humans. We will use the reagents generated during this study which focussed on birds. a follow on grant Flu TRailmap has been funded |
| Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink |
| Description | We have input our knowledge to a report written by a subgroup of SAC-ED for DEFRA, to inform about teh current avian influenza outbreak and what might eb done o limit rishs to poultry and other sectors including humans. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |
| Description | Avian Influenza research co-ordination meeting |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Flu: TrailMap-One Health |
| Amount | £3,263,514 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | MR/Y03368X/1 |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2024 |
| End | 07/2025 |
| Title | Rapid mortality in captive bush dogs (Speothos venaticus) caused by influenza A of avian origin (H5N1) at a wildlife collection in the United Kingdom |
| Description | Europe has suffered unprecedented epizootics of high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 since Autumn 2021. As well as impacting upon commercial and wild avian species, the virus has also infected mammalian species more than ever observed previously. Mammalian species involved in spill over events have primarily been scavenging terrestrial carnivores and farmed mammalian species although marine mammals have also been affected. Alongside reports of detections of mammalian species found dead through different surveillance schemes, several mass mortality events have been reported in farmed and wild animals. In November 2022, an unusual mortality event was reported in captive bush dogs (Speothos venaticus) with clade 2.3.4.4b H5N1 HPAIV of avian origin being the causative agent. The event involved an enclosure of 15 bush dogs, 10 of which succumbed during a nine-day period with some dogs exhibiting neurological disease. Ingestion of infected meat is proposed as the most likely infection route. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| URL | https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Rapid_mortality_in_captive_bush_dogs_i_Speothos_venaticu... |
| Description | Australasian Virology Society's 21st Anniversary Meeting (AVS11), held in Australia, 5-8 December 2022. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Virology in Australia to share and encourage collaborations and exchange of knowledge |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.avs.org.au/ |
| Description | Becky Morelle BBC interview - avian flu moving from mammals to humans 27Feb 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Article Continuation of mink farming presents a risk of future viral pandemics and epidemics |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Cardiff School of Medicine, regular Science Seminar Series, Wendy Barclay talk title Perspectives on Pandemics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | . The seminar is circulated across several Schools and posted on Eventbrite. Talks are 45-50 minutes plus questions and the audience is multi-disciplinary - immunologists, bioinformaticians, modellers etc |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Cardiff University Infection & Immunity meeting 2022 'Saving the world from the next pandemic' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Infection and Immunity annual meeting 2022 Cardiff City Stadium, Leckwith Road, Cardiff, CF11 8AZ, United Kingdom |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/systems-immunity |
| Description | Chris Stokel-Walker BMJ article How similar is covid-19 to the flu? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Some questions the piece will try to answer are: • In what ways are covid similar to influenza? How has that changed over the course of the pandemic? • Treatment • Vaccination • Disease behaviour • Public health approaches • Mortality • Post-viral syndrome |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Contribution to Inside Science |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Wendy Barclay provided her views on the current avian influenza situation for Inside Science on BBC radio 4 on 7th Feb 2024 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Contribution to a BBC podcast (Tom Peacock) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Tom Peacock contributed to discussions on BBC Inside Science about bird flu in 2024 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0025vw9 |
| Description | Contribution to a discussion on avian flu for BBC's Briefing Room |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Wendy Barclay and Prof Ian Brown contributed to discussions on the BBCs Briefing Room- Avian flu is evolving but what risk does it pose to us? |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001z6q3 |
| Description | Contribution to an article in BMJ |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Wendy Barclay was interviewed for an article in BMJ-Should we worry about a growing threat from "bird flu"? (Published 04 June 2024) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | DMM Meeting Wendy Barclay, Organiser, Chair |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Disease Models & Mechanisms Meeting Infectious Diseases Through an Evolutionary Lens London, UK, Tuesday 17 - Thursday 19 October 2023 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.biologists.com/meetings/dmminfectious2023/ |
| Description | Discussion on Avian Influenza |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Science Media Centre chat on the current bird flu situation on 14th June at 1pm |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Interview for BBC world Service |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | BBC World Service programme called The Inquiry, the concept of the programme a question and topic, in which 4 experts are invited to unpack and answer. This episode was focused on Avian Flu, particularly what has appeared in the news over the last few weeks with HN51 spreading to cattle across America. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5xhh |
| Description | Interview for an article about avian influenza |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Wendy Barclay provided information about avian flu to Science News*magazine. In particular about influenza viruses packaging host ANP32 proteins in their virions to get a jump start on replication which may help flu viruses overcome species barriers. The readers were a general audience including students in grades 6-12 at more than 5,000 schools in the United States. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Interview in Newspaper |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Interview with Professor Wendy Barclay in the Guardian newspaper (1st Feb 2025) about her role as a virologist and her opinions on the pandemic potential of avian influenza Virologist Wendy Barclay: 'Wild avian viruses are mixing up their genetics all the time. It's like viral sex on steroids |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/feb/01/virologist-wendy-barclay-wild-avian-viruses-are-mixi... |
| Description | Interview with Reuters |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Wendy Barclay was asked to contribute to a Reuters article about making pandemic flu vaccines for humans, and to provide input as to whether there is an argument to have some for agricultural workers now as a prevention measure, and how to discuss her thoughts on the current situation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Interview with Wendy Barclay about Bird Flu |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | BMJ interview with Wendy Barclay about bird flu following BMJ article |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | MicrobiologySociety Annual Conference Belfast - Avian Flu |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Speaker |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://microbiologysociety.org/event/annual-conference/annual-conference-2022 |
| Description | NSV portugal organiser XVIII International Conference on Negative Strand Viruses |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | co-organiser |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | New York Times interviewed by David Quammen on H5N |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | interview |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | The Briefing Room interview about Bird Flu |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | interview |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | The Naked Scientist - Could bird flu be the next pandemic? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Interview |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Wendy Barclay invited speaker at the 70th Annual meeting of the Japanese Society for Virology, in Sendai, Japan September 2023 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Keynote speaker - title of talk Innovation in vaccine development: Perspectives from global research leaders. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | co-organiser - Avian Flu |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Open discussion |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |