Another tiny tyrant

Scientists are sharpening tools as bird flu draws closer.  

- ANDREA GRAVES

Using the genetic contents of toilet flushings to monitor the prevalence of viruses was a striking Covid-era achievement. Similar techniques may help detect the arrival of highly pathogenic bird flu, which recently landed on our icy southern doorstep.

It's hoped an avian equivalent of Covid wastewater testing will emerge from a new project funded by Te Niwha, an infectious diseases research platform formed in Covid's wake. Professor Jemma Geoghegan, an evolutionary virologist at the University of Otago, co-leads the project. "We want to include environmental detection because it's sometimes too difficult to get samples directly from birds," she says. Environmental samples that could contain the flu's tell-tale RNA sequence might include water or droppings.

The team will initially study existing viruses as a proxy for the lethal bird flu. "First, we need to know if we can use environmental samples to detect viruses we already have," she says. "There are low pathogenic strains of avian influenza virus that have always been in aquatic birds." By taking samples in New Zealand and the sub-Antarctic islands, the team also aim to learn how mild strains spread.