July 16, 2007
 

US scientists roll out improved dual vaccine for poultry

Scientists in the US have rolled out a new and improved dual vaccine meant for preventing infections from both bird flu and Newcastle disease.

The vaccine prototypes would have dual specificity and would allow a single immunization against both H5 and H7 viruses and Newcastle disease (NDV).

Researchers used reverse genetics to construct a chimeric bird flu virus that expressed parts of both the H5N1 virus genes and the NDV genes, according to Man-Seong Park and collaborators at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the USDA.

Park and colleagues reported that a single immunization of chickens with this improved vaccine prototype virus induced not only a 90 percent protection against an H7N7 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, but also complete immunity against a highly virulent NDV. 

The scientists said chimeric constructs should be developed for convenient, affordable, and effective vaccination against both bird flu and Newcastle disease.

Their findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.