Studying viral transmission from animals to humans
L. Wayne Schultz, Ph.D., and Timothy C. Umland, Ph.D.

Many of the world’s most severe pandemics have resulted when an animal virus acquired the ability to infect humans.  The “Spanish flu” of 1918 (500,000 deaths in the US and millions worldwide), the “Asian flu” of 1957 (70,000 deaths in the US), the “Hong Kong flu” of 1968 (34,000 deaths in the US), and HIV (tens of millions of deaths worldwide) are all thought to have evolved from animal viruses.  Current concern over the H1N1 form of swine flu illustrates the continuing threat posed by new human viruses emerging from reservoirs of endemic animal viruses.

The main goal of the research being conducted by Drs. Schultz and Umland is to understand how an animal virus mutates to gain the ability to infect human hosts. They believe that specific virus proteins must mutate to “match” with host cell proteins for a successful infection to be established. This work is at the forefront of biological research, has a long-term goal of antiviral drug design, and may be applicable to a broad range of emerging viruses.