The three-week program is coordinated by the CDC and places skilled laboratorians in areas with known cases of H5N1 to help contain the spread of the potentially deadly illness through diagnostic testing.

"By sharing her expertise onsite in India, Trisha will prepare local technicians to detect this deadly disease that has claimed the lives of nearly 200 people worldwide, killed millions of poultry and migratory birds, and threatens to spread exponentially if it is not contained," says UHL Director Chris Atchison. "Her experience also benefits Iowa as she sees firsthand how public health workers can prevent the spread of this disease."

Trisha will teach the course in Pune, India, and then travel to sites across the country to help technicians set up their laboratories, conduct real-time analysis, incorporate quality control measures, and establish procedures for specimen collection, handling and processing.

Sixteen technicians from throughout India are registered to attend the course.

"There is so much that I hope to gain from participating," Trisha says. "There is the teaching and training experience, increased knowledge of influenza and how the CDC helps with global surveillance and outbreak management of emerging infectious diseases. There is the global travel experience and making new international friends. It is a sense of really helping fulfill a true need."

Avian (referring to birds) influenza occurs naturally in wild birds. Most strains of the virus are harmless to these migratory fowl. H5N1, however, has caused deaths in more than 80 species of wild birds. It was passed to domestic poultry where millions were killed by the disease or slaughtered to prevent its spread. Within the last few years, H5N1 spread across Asia, Europe and into Africa, and passed from effected poultry to humans and other mammals.

"I commend Trisha for taking on this important, global work," says Dr. Mike Pentella, UHL associate director of infectious disease. "Trisha is using her considerable laboratory skills and her vacation time to help stop suffering. We applaud her willingness and enthusiasm for the humanitarian project."

The U.S. trainers who will be teaching technicians through the CDC program must be well-versed on a variety of laboratory instruments in order to adapt to the equipment that is available on-site. The expedition is funded by several international, bilateral agreements. Teams often travel under the umbrella of the World Health Organization, which aids in providing access.