https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13089105/US-Chinese-scientists-bird-flu-strains-infectious-Covid.html The US government is spending $1million of American taxpayer money to fund experiments on dangerous bird flu viruses in collaboration with Chinese scientists. The research involves infecting ducks and geese with different strains of viruses to make them more infectious, and study the viruses' potential to 'jump into mammalian hosts,' according to research documents. It is being funded through the US Department of Agriculture and collaborating studies will take place at sites in Georgia, Beijing and Edinburgh in Scotland. It comes despite similar research being restricted in 2022 and growing concerns that dubious Chinese studies may have started the Covid pandemic. The documents were obtained by the campaign group, The White Coat Waste Project, and shared with DailyMail.com. The papers show funding for the avian virus research began in April 2021 and it is slated to continue through March 2026. The USDA told this website the project was applied for in 2019 and approved in 2020. The specific viruses the researchers will work with include H5NX, H7N9 and H9N2, WCW reported. A 2023 study described H5NX viruses as 'highly pathogenic' with the ability to cause neurological complications in humans. The H7N9 strain first infected humans and animals in China in March 2013 and the World Health Organization said it is of concern 'because most patients have become severely ill.' The H9N2 strain has been found in dove in China and while it has a lower pathogenicity than the other strains, it can still infect humans. The main collaborators on the project are USDA Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute - a Wuhan lab partner.