Fighting for faster virus detection

An electronic nose developed by Notre Dame researchers is helping sniff out bird flu biomarkers for faster detection and fewer sick birds.

By University of Notre Dame

November 18^th, 2025

Research leading the way

Nosang Myung, the Bernard Keating-Crawford Professor of Engineering and an expert in nanoengineering materials and sensor technology, has long dreamed of creating a device that could help people smell gas leaks or small fires. Then, during the COVID pandemic, he realized the application could extend to disease.

Avian flu was not the initial goal for this technology. But when Myung began reading about the dangers this virus could possess for farmers and consumers alike, he began to steer the first application this way.

Nosang Myung poses for a portrait in a testing room for the virus-detecting electronic nose.

The virus-detecting device photographed in studio.

Myung works with graduate students in the lab.

An internal piece of the virus detection device.

Myung poses for a portrait with the virus detection device.

Myung works with graduate students in his lab.

Keeping avian flu out of the coop

At Hertzfeld Poultry Farms in Grand Rapids, Ohio, measures have been put in place to reduce the risk of avian flu. Sanitation and reduced contact help keep the flocks safe. Myung’s electronic nose helps to expedite testing the flocks for infection.