A new vaccine to fight against bird flu was developed by Peter Palese, chair, department of microbiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.
A new vaccine to fight against bird flu was developed by Peter Palese, chair, department of microbiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He said that it is an alternative to the mass slaughtering of birds. It is a vaccine for the poultry and it offers protection against the avian flu and Newcastle disease. The team of American researchers inserted the bird flu gene, H5 into the vaccine against Newcastle disease. This vaccine acts as a vector and protects the bird from both the disease.
The role of the H5 protein is that it acts as a hemagglutinin binding the avian influenza virus to the cells it infects. The birds were inoculated with this recombinant vaccine and then exposed to the lethal strains of avian influenza virus and the Newcastle virus but the result is that the vaccine produces antibodies against both viruses. , offering protection against both diseases. The researchers are now discussing with the drug companies about mass production of the vaccine. The vaccine is said to be 100% effectiveness. The researchers also say that the vaccine would be a very cheap vaccine that can be added to water or even sprayed. And the birds have to be vaccinated more than once to be very effective.
