The University of Michigan announced on Mar. 27 that it will lead a new research project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study how the bird flu virus behaves in the air around livestock and how engineering solutions might reduce its spread.
This work aims to help prevent or lessen future outbreaks, which have led to significant losses for farmers and disruptions in food supply chains. According to the university, detection of bird flu infection within flocks and herds often results in mass culling, with an ongoing outbreak since 2022 causing the loss of 175 million birds and costing the industry about $1.4 billion as of late 2024.
Herek Clack, associate professor at the University of Michigan’s civil and environmental engineering department, will lead this $2 million project supported by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The team will test how nonthermal plasmas—air exposed to strong electric fields that create free electrical charges—can render airborne viruses harmless for both humans and animals. “Both the USDA and the agricultural industry want a playbook—science-based guidelines—for how to operate under the threat of bird flu,” Clack said. “We’re after a better understanding of how the airborne virus behaves in enclosed livestock operations and what technologies can best protect animals and workers.”
Clack’s previous work developed a plasma reactor that reduced infectious viruses in air by up to 99.9%. Building on these results, his team now plans to examine whether pollutants commonly found near livestock, such as ammonia, affect plasma treatment effectiveness by changing air pH levels—a factor believed important for virus infectivity. “A key question we’re looking at is, ‘What will happen with pH levels—how do they impact the infectivity of the viruses?'” Clack said.
Allen Haddrell from University of Bristol will use technology developed at Bristol Aerosol Research Centre for faster measurement on how long bird flu remains infectious when airborne compared with traditional methods: “What they miss with that approach is roughly the first 20 minutes of infectivity decay,” Haddrell said.
The university reports that better knowledge about viral decay dynamics could help agriculture respond more effectively not only against avian influenza but also future pandemics affecting humans or animals: “During COVID, workers in these enclosed livestock or processing operations were 50 to 70 times more at risk for contracting the virus, according to a GAO report from 2023,” Clack said.
The University of Michigan Ann Arbor stands as a public research university offering diverse undergraduate, graduate and professional programs across its schools and colleges according to its official website. The main campus is located in Ann Arbor with additional campuses in Dearborn and Flint according to its official website. The institution works toward advancing knowledge while cultivating leaders who address challenges within Michigan and beyond according to its official website.
