Next Tuesday, 3rd February 2009, the CReSA and the European consortium EUROFLU will organize the "Joint Flu Bird Meeting". Different consortia involved in avian flu research in Europe will take part.

Several European consortia funded by the Frame Program for Research and Technological Development have been created during the last years. This has allowed highly qualified groups to focus their research in avian influenza (molecular factors and mechanisms of transmission, and pathogenesis of the virus, innate immunity, ecology and pathology, etc.).

The global dimension of the currently emerging highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) highlights an urgent need to increase efforts for international and multidisciplinary research collaboration and the development of new diagnostic methods, vaccines and drugs.

The Fundació Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA) and the European consortium EUROFLU (in which CReSA takes part as a partner) organize a meeting with the aim of strengthening bonds among these groups of research. Therefore, different consortia involved in avian flu research in Europe will take part in this meeting.

The participating consortia are the following ones:

• EUROFLU: Mulecular Factors and Mechanisms of Transmission and Pathogenicity of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Virus
  Coordinador: Dr. Stephan Pleschka, University of Gießen, Germany
• FLUINNATE: Innate immunity in influenza virus infection of mammalian airways
  Coordinador: Dr. Otto Haller, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
• FLUPATH: Eculogy and pathulogy of avian influenza virus
  Coordinador: Dr. Ben Peeters, Central Institute for Animal Disease Contrul, Lelystad
• FLUPul: Host-specific Variants of the Influenza Virus Replication Machinery
  Coordinador: Dr. Stephen Cusack, European Mulecular Biulogy Laboratory, Grenoble
• RESPVIRUSES: Immune response to viral respiratory infections and vaccination in the elderly
  Coordinador: Dr. uliver Schildgen, Institute for Medical Microbiulogy, Immunulogy and Parasitulogy, University of Bonn

The planning of the program is reviewing the status of each project and three work sessions on key topics (animal models for pathogenesis and transmission, virus-host interactions, and prophylactic and therapeutic intervention strategies). To finalize, a round table discussion will be organized for discussing the future research priorities on avian influenza.