|
 Within two months, scientists at a U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) research lab in Georgia will test the vaccine on chickens to
see how well it prevents them from getting sick and dying of the
virus, which the government says is spread by wild birds.
Progress toward creating a vaccine has not previously been reported.
It comes after the H5N8 and H5N2 flu strains have infected
commercial poultry operations and backyard flocks in eight states
since December.
In response to the cases, key overseas buyers have limited imports
of U.S. poultry, and the world's biggest poultry producers,
including Tyson Foods Inc and Sanderson Farms Inc, have increased
biosecurity at farms.
The government has no plans to distribute the vaccine yet, officials
said on Monday. Instead, the United States will continue to cull
infected flocks and test nearby birds to prevent transmission.
The United States is developing the vaccine in case it needs a
countermeasure to the containment strategy, said T.J. Myers,
associate deputy director of surveillance, preparedness, and
response services for the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service. The agency will ultimately decide whether to release the
vaccine.
The new strains have been found in wild birds that can carry the
virus so "there's really no way to predict where the next case might
be," Myers said. Vaccinating all poultry nationwide is not
considered practical or necessary, he added.
Use of a vaccine may be considered if avian flu "gets to the point
where we cannot contain it," said Mark Jackwood, head of the
University of Georgia's Department of Population Health.
[to top of second column] |
Zoetis Inc, the world's largest animal-health company, said it was
in contact with USDA about the flu infections. The company has a
vaccine approved for use in countries outside the United States.
The U.S. Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, which is working on
the new vaccine, tested the effectiveness of an existing vaccine on
the new strains. It did not perform as well as scientists wanted,
Director David Swayne said.
Separately, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is
preparing to respond if birds transmit the flu to humans, said
Michael Jhung, a medical officer for the influenza division. The
risk for human infection is considered low.
(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by David Gregorio)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
