The BirdFlu2009 meeting entitled Avian Influenza and Human Health, held in Oxford, included topics covering new developments in the control of seasonal, avian and swine influenza virus infection, with a focus on the human-animal interface. This conference report highlights selected presentations on sialidase therapy for influenza infection, the use of IVIgs to study antibody diversity and reactivity, detecting oseltamivir carboxylate in waste water, H5N1 infection in Egyptian children, preparedness for an influenza pandemic and an indirect sandwich ELISA to detect H5 avian influenza virus. Investigational drugs discussed include NEX-DAS-181 (NexBio Inc) and MVA-NP-M1 (The Edward Jenner Institute for Vaccine Research).