Russia Announces Avian Vaccine Against Bird Flu
Posted on: Saturday, 14 January 2006, 09:00 CST
Text of report by Russia TV on 14 January
Russia without bird flu. Scientists at the Poultry Breeding Institute have developed a vaccine against the deadly infection. It offers reliable immunity for domestic poultry against the H5N1 virus several weeks after vaccination. A "Vesti" film crew managed to witness the closing phase of the unique experiments. Here is a report from Vitaliy Lukashov in St Petersburg.
[Lukashov] These are the first 40 chickens no longer threatened by bird flu. These residents of the anti-infection quarantine cages have been injected with a vaccine against the H5N1 virus, which can be passed to humans. This little bottle with white fluid - the latest work of the Poultry Breeding Research Institute - is capable of guarding both poultry and humans against infection.
[Eduard Dzhavadov, director of the All-Russian Poultry Breeding Veterinary Research Institute of the Russian Agricultural Academy] Experiments carried out by us have demonstrated that several weeks after vaccination these birds developed an intensive immunity that should prevent them from falling ill. And it is guaranteed that this poultry will not fall ill.
[Lukashov] Only one thing is missing for the absolute purity of the experiment: to infect poultry with the fatal disease and to demonstrate that it has no effect on the inoculated poultry. But experts regard this as superfluous. Blood tests have shown that the antibodies formed under the effects of the vaccine completely destroy the virus.
The enemy was conquered with the help of the enemy itself. This flask contains egg white with living H5N1. The virus was cultivated in special incubators, and was used as the basis for the vaccine. Secure immunity develops in six weeks and lasts a whole year. In the next few days the new vaccine will be launched at the Russian Agricultural Academy. The Poultry Breeding Research Institute is already getting calls from farmers from various parts of Russia and even Uzbekistan. Only 10,000 test doses have been manufactured so far.
The Poultry Breeding Institute is saying that the total vaccination of domestic poultry is the ideal option. Then the H5N1 virus will stop being a threat to humans. But Russia has more than 1bn chickens, geese and ducks. So the No 1 objective is vaccination in so-called high-risk zones - areas bordering Asia and places where migratory birds spend the winter.
Source: BBC Monitoring Newsfile
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