Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) continues to cause major losses for poultry farms around the world, killing millions of commercial and wild birds, disrupting food supplies, and increasing concerns on transmission among multiple animal species. In response, the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) and the University of California, Davis, are investing $299,938 in a Rapid Outcomes from Agricultural Research (ROAR) grant to identify and harness natural disease resistance in chickens as a new tool to combat avian influenza.
Current approaches, including vaccines, can help manage outbreaks. But they face challenges related to availability, speed of deployment and long-term effectiveness. This research project will explore whether some chickens naturally resist infection better than others and how that resistance could strengthen commercial poultry flocks.
Researchers led by Dr. Huaijun Zhou, Chancellor’s leadership professor and Dr. Rodrigo Gallardo, poultry virologist, at the University of California, Davis, will study the Fayoumi breed, a heritage chicken known for its hardiness and disease resistance. By using eggs containing a developing chick embryo—a safe and efficient research model—the team will compare how Fayoumi, broiler and layer chickens respond to highly pathogenic avian influenza. The researchers will evaluate survival and virus levels across the different breeds. They will also characterize immune responses to infection to identify the genes and biological pathways associated with disease resistance.