The 2nd annual Oxford avian influenza conference, BirdFlu2009, will address most aspects of basic and applied research on avian influenza viruses and their potential health and socio-economic impact on humans. The conference is aimed at bringing together leading experts in the field from both academia and industry, veterinarians, postdoctoral researchers, graduate research students, physicians and doctors, research managers and policy makers. Thus this event will provide an international forum to discover the latest research directions and thinking in this field in academic and commercial settings, to exchange data and ideas and to develop new collaborative links.