Penn lab has combated bird flu for decades

Strains of a deadly bird flu have been detected in countries across the globe, but Penn researchers are working to ensure that students need not seal themselves in their rooms just yet.

While the current strain, which has been responsible for nearly 100 deaths worldwide according to the World Health Organization, is only a few years old, a Penn lab has been working to combat avian influenza since 1983 when a major outbreak of bird flu hit Pennsylvania.

And Penn's Laboratory of Avian Medicine and Pathology is still taking an active role against all forms of the virus.

"If people have sick birds, they bring them to our laboratory and every bird that comes through will get checked for avian influenza" said Sherrill Davison, who heads the lab.

Any potential cases are quickly isolated using a sophisticated computer mapping system.

These preparations paid off in 2001 when another outbreak struck. Due to a rapid response, Davison said, it only cost the industry $400,000, compared to the $60,000,000 toll from the outbreak in the 1980s.

Davison said she is not too worried about an outbreak of this most recent strain in the U.S. due to extensive surveillance systems like the one at Penn and due to the fact that the nation does not import poultry.

Penn officials responsible for students health, however, are more concerned.

"Whether it is this strain or another, pandemics have generally occurred every third or fourth decade," Director of Student Health Services Evelyn Weiner said.

The University has convened a task force on the issue and is developing plans for such an emergency. The city of Philadelphia "is making those same preparations," Weiner said.

Those plans include separating suspected flu cases from all others and diverting non-urgent care to other hospitals.

There is no vaccine yet for the current strain.

But even if one were developed, Penn Health economist Mark Pauly said that "the odds of ever having an absolute 100 percent protective vaccine are like zero, and to have enough of it is like double zero."

There are four major anti-viral medications, and two may be helpful with this strain.

But since one major risk from influenza comes not from the virus itself but from a weakened immune system, there are still treatments that can help.

Normally, the flu is most dangerous to the young and the elderly, but some previous pandemics have hit those around students' age hardest.

"It certainly in our awareness that ... that the population that we serve [is] potentially vulnerable," Weiner said.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.