Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( 🔒 ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Need Help

Decoding the Rules of Respiratory Virus Transmission from Ferret Contact and Viral Load Dynamics

Award Number: R21AI202820
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/17/2026
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2028

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Decoding the Rules of Respiratory Virus Transmission from Ferret Contact and Viral Load Dynamics - PROJECT SUMMARY Transmission of influenza A viruses remains incompletely understood, despite their major impact on global health. The relative importance of contact, droplet, airborne, and fomite routes is still debated, and current models lack the behavioral and mechanistic resolution needed to predict infection risk under real-world conditions. This project aims to address these gaps by integrating a large video dataset from controlled ferret transmission experiments, daily viral load measurements, and high-resolution behavioral tracking using the open-source deep learning system SLEAP (Social LEAP Estimates Animal Poses). We will quantify how individual-level contact patterns, proximity, and object-sharing behaviors combine with viral shedding dynamics to determine the probability of influenza virus transmission. In Aim 1, we will extract time-resolved behavioral data from recorded ferret experiments using SLEAP to generate quantitative exposure histories for each recipient ferret, including contact duration and distance relative to the infected donor, as well as sequences of interactions involving object sharing. These data will be used to classify behavioral patterns, identify features most predictive of infection outcomes, and construct exposure matrices linking donor and recipient ferrets. In Aim 2, we will integrate these behavioral metrics with within-host viral dynamic models to infer mechanistic transmission kernels — mathematical functions describing how infection probability scales with viral load, contact duration, infected donor proximity, and fomite-mediated exposure. Bayesian hierarchical methods will account for experimental heterogeneity and estimate biologically interpretable parameters (e.g., per-minute transmission hazard and fomite decay rate). This project is highly interdisciplinary, combining quantitative modeling, virology, and modern computational behavioral analysis. The resulting framework will establish the feasibility of inferring biologically grounded transmission parameters from behavioral and virological data, providing a foundation for future translation to human challenge and household studies. By identifying the most predictive factors governing infection establishment, this work will advance our mechanistic understanding of respiratory virus spread and guide more effective public health interventions.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $233,118 )
2026	2026	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR NE	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research	000	1	8/17/2026	NEW	$233,118
														Subtotal = $233,118

Grand Total All Awards = $233,118

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Decoding the Rules of Respiratory Virus Transmission from Ferret Contact and Viral Load Dynamics

Award Number: R21AI202820

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/17/2026

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2028

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer