Yoshihiro Kawaoka, whose bird flu research sparked international controversy and a moratorium two years ago, has created another potentially deadly flu virus in his lab at University Research Park. Kawaoka used genes from several bird flu viruses to construct a virus similar to the 1918 pandemic flu virus that killed up to 50 million people worldwide. He tweaked the new virus so it spread efficiently in ferrets, an animal model for human flu.
Office of Strategic Communication