EU project team develops avian flu vaccine
Six partners working together in an EU funded project have developed a vaccine for the H7N1 strain of avian influenza. The vaccine will be tested in clinical trials in spring 2006. Media attention is currently focusing on the H5N1 strain of the virus, which is highly pathogenic and has been found in birds in Europe. The fear is that the virus could mutate into a strain that could be passed between humans. However, other strains of bird flu also present a threat, as highlighted in a report from the FLUPAN consortium printed in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. The article underlines the danger posed by the H7 virus, which, it states, can be spread from poultry to humans. It is for this strain that the consortium has developed a vaccine. The article in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, published on 15 October, concludes that: 'the serologic evidence for infections in poultry workers reported [in this article] further demonstrates the potential of AIVs [avian influenza viruses] to infect humans and suggests that permanent serosurveillance studies both in animals and in humans should be implemented to gain more knowledge about the crossing of the species barrier, which appears to be a means of generating a virus with pandemic potential'. Indeed, the H7N1 virus caused lethal outbreaks in Italian poultry in 1999, and was linked to the H7N7 poultry virus outbreak in the Netherlands in 2003. Over 80 people were infected in the Netherlands, and one person died. The RD-3 vaccine was developed using 'reverse genetics' - a type of genetic analysis that begins with a piece of DNA and proceeds to find out what it does. A custom-built RD-3 vaccine virus passed international safety tests and is now being used by project partner Sanofi Pasteur to produce the vaccine. The project has also produced a serological test with increased sensitivity for the detection of antibodies to H5 and H7 influenza viruses. This test can be used in serosurveillance to provide early warning of a possible pandemic. It also will be useful in vaccine evaluation. Surveillance of avian influenza viruses in Italy has also provided a basis for the preparation of a library of reagents, which will be a valuable resource for pandemic vaccine development in the future. A recent meeting of experts in Brussels concluded that extraordinary research efforts in the field of avian influenza should be mobilised rapidly. The fight against the disease needs to be tackled at the source - in animals - said the experts, while at the same time protecting humans with effective vaccines.