Bird flu vaccines for laying hens prove effective in practice
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[May 28, 2024]
PARIS/
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Bird flu vaccines for laying hens are effective in
practice, the Dutch government said on Tuesday, while confirming plans
to vaccinate poultry against the virus that ravaged flocks around the
world and is raising fears about human transmission.
Highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has killed
or caused the culling of hundreds of millions of poultry globally in
recent years, most of them laying hens, which sent egg prices rocketing.
A first series of tests by Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (WBVR)
early last year showed that two vaccines against bird flu, produced by
France's Ceva Animal Health and Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim, were
effective against the virus.
"In September 2023, 1,800 day-old chicks were vaccinated against bird
flu. The results show that the two tested vaccines are effective against
infection with the virus eight weeks after vaccination," the Dutch
agriculture ministry said in a statement.
"The fact that the vaccines work in practice is a very important step
towards the large-scale vaccination of poultry against the bird flu
virus," it said.
Bird flu is raising mounting concerns as the disease is increasingly
spreading to mammals, with the first-ever outbreaks detected in dairy
cows in the United States raising concerns about it spreading to humans
through the nation's milk supply.
More transmission trials will be conducted over the next year and a half
to assess the vaccines' effectiveness during the entire laying period,
the Dutch ministry said.
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![](../images/052824PIX/health88.jpg)
Talita de Lima Freitas, federal agricultural inspector, works on a
sample to test for avian influenza virus at the Reference Laboratory
of the World Organization for Animal Health in Campinas, Brazil
April 25, 2023. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2024/May/28/images/ads/current/ldn_lda_BUSDIRCOVER_2024.png) Australia last week reported its
first case of avian influenza in a child who had become infected in
India, while a different highly infectious strain was found on an
egg farm.
"The government intends to make large-scale vaccination possible
responsibly, taking into account animal and public health, as well
as animal welfare. Also to minimize any unfavorable effects of the
vaccination on trade. That is why a step-by-step approach was
chosen," it said.
(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
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