Objective To conduct a bibliometric analysis of international scientific literatures on research of avian influenza. Methods We performed a search in the Web of Science (WoS) database and analyzed the relevant records with Thomson Data Analyzer (TDA) and citation trees. Results Due to the rapid growth in publications by the United States and China, the number of publications on research of avian influenza has increased remarkably since 2005. The publication of Japan and Netherlands were of high quality due to support of international research programs. The researches about H5N1 virus mutation by the United States, Japan and Netherlands were the typical achievement of the area but also triggered arguments. Conclusion More international efforts are warranted on research of H7N9 and other influenza viruses.