Columbia to Test New Strategy for Curbing Bird Flu on Poultry Farms

When it comes to resisting bird flu, chickens on poultry farms are like sitting ducks. Last year, a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, H5N1, ripped through poultry farms across the United States, prompting farmers to cull tens of millions of chickens to contain the outbreaks. As egg production plummeted, egg prices soared to sky-high levels. 

Though the outbreaks have slowed and egg prices have decreased, the virus hasn’t gone away. Scientists believe it’s just a matter of time before avian influenza comes roaring back and does further damage to the agriculture industry. 

Chicken farms are not where researchers David Brenner and David Welch at the Columbia University Center for Radiological Research expected to test their antiviral technology. Their first deployments of far-UVC light—a type of ultraviolet light that swiftly and safely kills viruses and other pathogens—began as an effort to prevent indoor transmission of airborne flu and COVID viruses among people in medical centers, schools, and restaurants.   

But amid growing concerns about avian flu outbreaks, they realized that the technology might also help farmers curb the spread of bird flu on poultry farms. “Our studies show that far-UVC light offers a safe and practical way to inactivate any type of virus in the air, reducing the chance of transmission,” says Brenner.   

Now with the support of a $2 million Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Poultry Innovation Grand Challenge award from the United States Department of Agriculture, Brenner, Welch, and their team at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons will begin testing far-UVC technology to improve biosecurity on poultry farms. The funding is part of the federal government’s efforts to prevent another egg crisis, which includes $100 million in grants for research on vaccines, treatments, and other strategies to prevent the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus. 

UVC light, but safer 

Over the past 15 years, Brenner and his team have been developing far-UVC light as a safe alternative to conventional UVC, which quickly inactivates viruses and bacteria by damaging their DNA and has been used for decades to decontaminate unoccupied spaces.  

Far-UVC light is similarly effective at inactivating microbes. But unlike conventional UVC, far-UVC light cannot reach living cells in the skin and eyes, making it safe for use in occupied spaces. 

Numerous studies at Columbia and elsewhere have demonstrated that far-UVC light is highly efficient at killing viruses, including influenza, and that it is safe for human exposure, making it suitable for reducing virus levels in indoor environments filled with people and animals.  

Since the pandemic, far-UVC light fixtures have begun to be produced at scale and have been installed in a variety of settings, including a clinic at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, a long COVID clinic at Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine, and a variety of educational, recreational, and agricultural settings around the country. 

While studies suggest that far-UVC light can reduce transmission of airborne viruses indoors, demonstrating its efficacy in the real world is difficult. “Testing far-UVC light on a working poultry farm, filled with dust and a number of other elements you wouldn’t find in a controlled lab setting, gives us an opportunity to see how it performs in this environment,” Welch says.  

From bench to barn 

In earlier studies, the Columbia team has shown that far-UVC light can kill viruses in tiny droplets in the air as well as on surfaces. 

In the new study, the researchers will conduct laboratory experiments to measure the effectiveness of far-UVC light against H9N2, an avian influenza virus that causes less severe disease in birds, and H5N1 in the air, on surfaces, and in water. 

Next, the Columbia team will test whether far-UVC can prevent airborne transmission in chickens. The study will use an experimental animal housing unit designed by scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, in which infected and uninfected chickens share the same air but cannot touch each other.

Finally, the team will collaborate with poultry science experts at Texas A&M to test the implementation of far-UVC light in a barn housing hundreds of chickens.  

Parallel studies will be conducted to measure the effects of far-UVC exposure on chickens' eyes and general health and development. 

Beyond the barn 

Chickens aren’t the only species affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza: the virus has also spread to dairy cows and other mammals—including a few dozen people, mostly farm workers or people exposed to backyard flocks. While today’s avian flu viruses cannot be transmitted from person to person, scientists think they may eventually develop that capability. 

“There’s a real concern that avian influenza viruses could potentially jump from birds to humans, and become transmissible between people, triggering a pandemic,” Brenner says. “If you can prevent mass transmission between birds, you may also be able to reduce the risk to humans.”