14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists managed to turn the deadly bird flu virus on itself, by creating a new vaccine, which can be used to prevent a flu pandemic from spreading in humans, pets and even wild birds. A means of delivering the new drug to birds inside their eggs has also been devised, which means that they can now be controlled and that, if the influenza were to spread, authorities could rest assured that containment measures actually work.
So far, wild birds have made any attempts of limiting bird flu ranges futile. Because their flight paths cannot be controlled and they can't all be killed within a certain area, they often carried the virus people were trying to trap to other location, further infecting livestock and even humans. With the use of this new vaccine, devised from a weaker strain of the H5N1 virus – H9N2 – idle lab mice proved impervious to the effects of both viral infections.
After being injected with the experimental vaccine, they were subjected to the viral influences and survived both strains without showing the slightest signs of illness. Daniel Perez, professor at the University of Maryland, said "Our results show that the H9N2 backbone vaccine can be used to protect mice against two different, highly pathogenic strains of influenza. We chose genes from H9N2 influenza for the vaccine because the virus can infect many different animals, including chickens, mice and pigs."
The main achievement of the U.S. team is that they've managed to break the species barrier. So far, all vaccines, no matter what affliction they were designed to fight, were only limited to a single species. This new experimental drug can be used on both mammals and birds, as well as on humans. "Our approach involves a universal backbone that can be used in several different species," added Perez.
The fact that they were also able to vaccinate unhatched birds means that the team took an incredible step forward in protecting humans from the effects of widespread bird influenza. Although the disease hasn't yet reached the United States, a large portion of Eurasia and some countries in Africa have had a very difficult time handling the economic, environmental and social problems that widespread epidemics entail.