Public health officials consider a pandemic of influenza to be inevitable in the near future, triggered by bird flu.

Dr. Michael Greger, author of “Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching,” will speak at 8 p.m. Thursday in the Memorial Union Sun Room. The lecture “Surviving the Next Pandemic: Bird Flu and Other Emerging Infectious Diseases,” is co-sponsored by the ISU Vegetarian and Vegan Club and the Committee on Lectures.

“It is important for future graduating veterinary students to be aware of the signs and implications of an avian influenza outbreak,” said Janessa Butterfield, chapter president of the Association of Avian Veterinarians and junior in veterinary medicine .

Knowing about the emerging disease will help prepare graduates to handle the potential epidemic should it arise within the United States.

Butterfield also believes it is important for the general public to be aware and informed of the potential influenza outbreak. She thinks if it does occur in the United States, there will probably be mass hysteria, but if everyone is educated about the subject the situation will be more easily managed.

Along with his lecture at the Memorial Union, Greger will be speaking to the Association of Avian Veterinarians. The purpose of the association is to help educate veterinary students on the subject of avian medicine. There is not an avian program at Iowa State, so the organization provides a source of information for interested students.

Greger initially intended to speak on how to live a vegetarian lifestyle in a healthy way. He later made the decision to refine the topic to bird flu, said Patricia Miller, lectures program manager. She said this happens regularly with lecturers who initially present several topics on which they could speak, and later decide to speak on a more refined subject.

Greger is an author, physician, and internationally recognized professional speaker on public health issues. He is a graduate of the Cornell University School of Agriculture and the Tufts University School of Medicine. He is currently the Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at The Humane Society of the United States.

Gregor served as an expert witness to defend Oprah Winfrey in the “meat defamation trial” as Farm Sanctuary’s Chief Medical Investigator, debating the National Cattlemen’s Association director before the FDA.