In the spirit of the One Health Commission, which calls for an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to human-veterinary-environmental health challenges (15), the fi ght against global pandemics, such as those of avian infl uenza virus (H5N1), necessitates greater dialogue and collaborative leadership between governments and livestock industries. Development of realistic occupational safety measures is an ongoing challenge for national governments. A Pilot Study of Host Genetic Variants Associated with Influenza-associated Deaths among Children and Young Adults We compared the prevalence of 8 polymorphisms in the tumor necrosis factor and mannose-binding lectin genes among 105 children and young adults with fatal influenza with US population estimates and determined in subanalyses whether these polymorphisms were associated with sudden death and bacterial co-infection among persons with fatal influenza. No differences were observed in genotype prevalence or minor allele frequencies between persons with fatal influenza and the reference sample. Fatal cases with low-producing MBL2 genotypes had a 7-fold increased risk for invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) co-infection compared with fatal cases with high- and intermediate-producing MBL2 genotypes (odds ratio 7.1, 95% confidence interval 1.6–32.1). Limited analysis of 2 genes important to the innate immune response found no association between genetic variants and fatal influenza infection. Among children and young adults who died of influenza, low-producing MBL2 genotypes may have increased risk for MRSA co-infection. I t is unknown why some apparently healthy persons become severely ill after infl uenza infection while others infected by the same strain remain asymptomatic or become only mildly ill. The presence of neutralizing antibody to a specifi c infl uenza strain is protective, and certain chronic medical conditions increase the risk for severe outcomes of infl uenza infections, but the risk factors for infl uenzaassociated deaths among previously healthy persons remain largely unknown (1) .