Gates Funds Pandemic Virus Prevention

This H1N1 business has people running scared. And now a prominent foundation is doing something about it.

The Gates Foundation, ever-interested in public health concerns, has given a five-year grant of $9.5 million to University of Wisconsin, Madison, to help researchers there discover virus mutations that might offer early warning signs of possible pandemic influenza viruses, according to a university press release.

The project's principal investigator, Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a virologist at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, says that not all influenza are created equal. Some have more "pandemic potential" than others. "Early intervention is critical to the control of influenza virus outbreaks," he said. "But in order to intervene, we rely on early recognition of the pandemic potential of newly emerging influenza viruses."

Kawaoka will head a team of scientists from around the globe who will seek mutations in viral proteins, which make is possible for avian influenza viruses to bind to human receptors. If they discover the key information, it can be used to develop an early-warning system on pandemics.

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