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Iowa City Foreign Relations Council Presents: Avian Flu H7N9 and the Risk of the Next Great Pandemic

Published: Aug. 31, 2017, 10 a.m.

Hans House is Professor and Vice Chair for Education, Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Iowa. He received his undergraduate degree, Cum Laude, in Marine Biology from University of Southern California. He then received his MD degree from USC in 1997. He subsequently received a Diploma of Tropical Medicine from the London School of Tropical Medicine, and an MA in Academic Medicine from the Keck School of Medicine at USC. Dr. House holds Board Certifications as Diplomate American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Emergency Medicine.

Avian Flu was first identified in Hong Kong in 1997. Despite fears that this virus might mutate and spread rapidly around the world, it has smoldered and persisted in nature, eventually causing a few hundred deaths. More recently, a new strain, H7N9, has become established in China and has led to five seasonal waves of illness. How do new strains develop? What factors lead to their severity or spread? Why do they always seem to start in East Asia? Professor House will explore the nature of the influenza virus and examine the latest epidemiological evidence, trying to determine the risk of H9N9 developing into the next great pandemic.

For more information on the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council visit icfrc.org.