Engineers at Washington University have built a sensor that can detect the presence of bird flu particles within minutes.

Bird flu has been spreading throughout the United States, with farmers having to kill millions of chickens and turkeys that have tested positive for the virus.

The researchers say the biosensor machine could keep farmers from having to cull their flocks when they detect the contagious virus, which has affected more than 5 million birds in Missouri since 2022.

Bird flu, or the H5N1 virus, has existed among commercially raised animals and wild birds for years, but recently the virus has started to spread more, said WashU engineering professor Rajan Chakrabarty, who leads the lab that developed the biosensor.

The virus is more likely to spread through airborne particles, he said.

“The moment a virus mutates to become airborne, the spread could be rapid, and it's very difficult to control,” Chakrabarty said. “Hence, there is a need to come up with real-time testing of this flu.”

WashU engineers last year began developing a machine to detect viral particles in the air using so-called “wet cyclone” technology. The mini fridge-size machine sucks in air, spins it in liquid to trap particles and sends an alert when it detects the virus.

Other inventors have used similar machines to detect the coronavirus.

As with the coronavirus, detecting bird flu early is key to keeping the virus from spreading widely, said Lincoln University professor Tatijana Fisher, a poultry expert, who would like to know more about how the sensor works onsite at poultry farms.

“Anytime we can do something that gets us a result faster or easier or cheaper, any of that can be helpful,” she said.

Farmers could place the machines near air vents in poultry sheds or in other spaces where animals are kept, Charkabarty said. The sensors not only detect the virus, but also show approximately how much of it is in the air.

The quick detection could allow farmers to separate infected animals from healthy ones.

“You get a rough estimate, a qualitative estimate, if there is [a] virus present, and if yes, that particular area where this virus has been detected can be protected, can be just blocked off.”

The machine exists as a proof of concept, but the researchers would like to scale up production. Chakrabarty said recent cuts to federal funding for scientific developments have thrown the future of the device into question.

He said philanthropic organizations could fund more development and get the sensors ready for commercial use.

Bird flu has also been spreading in cattle and, in rare cases, humans. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not yet reported person-to-person transmission. Agricultural employees and other people who work closely with animals are most likely to catch the virus.

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