AI Summary
Researchers have developed an improved method for testing bird flu vaccines that closely mimics human infection symptoms. This allows for faster validation and deployment of vaccines in case of an outbreak. There is an urgent need for a safe and effective vaccine to prevent the spread of the virus from human to human. Previous cases have shown the potential for mammal-to-human transmission, raising concerns.
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Vaccine Research Center have developed an improved way to test potential vaccines against bird flu. The report was published this week in the journal iScience.
Concerning reports about avian flu outbreaks at poultry facilities across the country and abroad highlight the increasingly urgent need for a safe and effective vaccine that could thwart a possible spread of the virus from human to human. To be ready to safely and efficiently test promising vaccine candidates, researchers developed an animal model that more closely mimics the typical symptoms of human infection than any such model so far. This proactive work minimizes the steps needed to quickly validate and deploy a new vaccine in a crisis.
The COVID-19 pandemic got people to realize that it is not enough to respond to a pandemic when it happens. We really need to make sure that we are ready before it is here.”
Doug Reed, Ph.D., co-senior author, associate professor of immunology at Pitt’s Center for Vaccine Research
Bird flu, caused by H5N1 influenza virus, is primarily spread by migratory wild birds and can decimate poultry populations, including chickens and ducks. Although the virus has infected people, previous infections have not spread efficiently from human to human. However, there are documented cases of H5N1 spreading in mammalian populations, ranging from minks to sea lions and dolphins, raising concern about human-to-human spread.
People infected with H5N1 virus can develop acute respiratory