U.S. scientists say they've developed the first egg-injected vaccine to
protect chickens against the avian influenza virus.
An Auburn University veterinary professor, Haroldo Toro, and researchers
at Vaxin Inc. of Birmingham, Ala., say the vaccine would provide 100 percent
protection once an outbreak's specific viral strain is identified.
"We have proven the principle, which is the major step in leading to commercially
produced vaccine that could be vital to the poultry industry," Toro said.
"When an outbreak occurs, we would determine the strain and quickly create
a vaccine within three months specifically for it."
The researchers inserted a gene from a low pathogenic avian flu virus strain
(H5N9) into a non-replicating human virus, a Vaxin proprietary
technology, which was then injected into developing chicken embryos still
in the egg.
When protection induced by the vaccine was tested against two highly
pathogenic avian flu viruses -- a Vietam H5N1 strain and a Mexican H5N2
strain -- the results showed 68 percent and 100 percent protection, in
that order.
"Our results indicate that we can provide effective protection against
any strain after incorporating the gene of the field strain into our vaccine
construct," said Toro.
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