A new bird flu threat?

A new strain of avian flu is causing concern among health officials because it exhibits different characteristics from other strains and may mutate further, causing a pandemic.

McMaster’s Matthew Miller spoke to Radio Canada International Monday about the flu, known as H7N9, and about a potential made-at-McMaster solution to fighting the seasonal flu.

Miller, an assistant professor based in the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, is working on a universal flu vaccine that would provide multiple years of protection against the virus.

The vaccine will undergo several clinical trials in 2015 and 2016.