Mizzou Launches $19 Million NIH Program to Unravel How Flu Spreads

Researchers at the University of Missouri have launched a new research program aimed at answering a deceptively simple question: why do some people infected with influenza spread the virus efficiently while others do not, and why do some people exposed to the virus become infected while others escape? The effort, known as the Missouri Center for Influenza Transmission and Immunity, or Missouri-CITI, is supported by a $19 million grant from the National Institutes of Health and is part of the agency’s Influenza Transmission Research Consortium, a broader initiative to improve understanding of how influenza spreads and how transmission can be prevented.

The grant is a significant milestone for the university: it is Mizzou’s first new NIH Program Project (P01) award since 2010. The program is led by Henry Wan, founding director of Mizzou’s NextGen Center for Influenza and Emerging Infectious Diseases and a Curators’ Distinguished Professor in the School of Medicine with joint appointments in the College of Engineering and the College of Veterinary Medicine. Wan emphasized that infection and transmission are not the same thing. “Being infected with influenza does not necessarily mean someone will efficiently spread the virus to others, and being exposed does not always mean someone will become infected,” he said. “We want to understand what determines whether the virus successfully moves from one person, through the air, to infect another person.”

The project examines flu transmission from several angles: how infected people release the virus, what factors influence the amount of infectious virus they release, how the virus travels through the air, and what makes some people less susceptible to infection. Two broad sets of variables are central to the investigation. Previous flu infections and vaccinations can affect how much virus an infected person releases into the air, as well as how susceptible others are to infection. At the same time, temperature and humidity can influence how respiratory particles travel through the air and how long the virus remains infectious. The program is designed to study how immunity and these environmental conditions work together to determine whether influenza successfully passes from one person to another.

To tackle these questions, the center brings together a multidisciplinary team spanning several of the university’s divisions. Participants include Jane McElroy, Chris Sampson, Dima Dandachi and Nai-Wei Chen from the School of Medicine; John Driver, Kiho Lee and Weihong Gu from the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources; Wenjun Ma from the College of Veterinary Medicine; and Binbin Wang from the College of Engineering. External collaborators include Jane Tao of Rice University, Jacco Boon of Washington University in St. Louis, Hulin Wu of UTHealth Houston, and Alicia Olivier of Mississippi State University. Together, the group combines expertise in influenza virology, immunology, human clinical research, animal models, aerosol science, engineering and computational modeling.

The research will draw on specialized facilities at Mizzou that allow scientists to investigate how immunity and environmental conditions influence airborne transmission under carefully controlled conditions. Mizzou’s National Swine Resource and Research Center will support animal studies using genetically engineered pigs, while MU Health Care will help researchers recruit people with influenza infections. By integrating findings from animal experiments with human studies, the team hopes to build a clearer picture of how influenza spreads among people.

The motivation is the recurring burden of seasonal influenza. “Every year, the flu is a massive problem, particularly in the fall and winter,” Wan said. “Since the challenge is so huge, we need people with different areas of expertise all working together, and there is a collaborative culture at Mizzou that you don’t find at many other places.”

The findings could eventually help researchers identify immune responses that reduce the amount of infectious virus people release into the air, as well as environmental conditions that make transmission less likely. According to the university, that knowledge could inform the development of future vaccines and other preventive strategies designed not only to protect individuals from influenza but also to limit the spread of flu in schools, homes, workplaces and other settings. “If we better understand how influenza transmits, particularly airborne transmission from person to person, it can help us develop ways to not only protect you, but also protect the people around you,” Wan said.

Because the program is newly established, its results remain ahead of it; the grant funds a planned research agenda rather than completed findings. Still, the questions it addresses sit at the heart of a long-standing puzzle in influenza science: the same virus that causes a dramatic outbreak in one household or workplace may barely register in another. By dissecting the chain of events that carries influenza from one person’s airways to the next — viral shedding, environmental survival, airborne transport and host susceptibility — the Missouri-CITI team aims to identify the points where transmission can most effectively be interrupted.

Subject of Research: How immunity, temperature and humidity influence airborne influenza transmission between people

Article Title: Why do some people spread the flu while others avoid infection? Mizzou researchers investigate

Article References: Why do some people spread the flu while others avoid infection? Mizzou researchers investigate. Original publication (Bibliographic details unavailable.)

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Keywords: influenza, NIH grant, University of Missouri, viral transmission, immunity, aerosol science, temperature, humidity, vaccination, public health, swine models, Missouri-CITI