December 1, 2009

US study finds more effective bid flu vaccine to protect poultry

The researchers showed that the peptide is recognised by the chicken's T-cells, which attack the virus directly and also trigger the production of antibodies that help the immune system fight the infection.

This is the first time scientists have identified a T-cell epitope of an influenza virus -  a protein on a virus particle recognised by the immune system - in chickens.

Sharif also added that influenza viruses are constantly changing and it is possible that the H5 virus could develop into something that is more efficiently transmitted from birds to humans and, from person to person, which may lead  to a pandemic of massive proportions.

The H5 bird flu virus is commonly found in wild birds such as migratory waterfowl that are usually unaffected by the virus. They can, however, transmit the virus to a variety of domestic birds including chickens, in which it can cause a range of illness from no signs of disease at all to a severe epidemic that kills all infected birds.