H5N1 Step in the Right Direction

Does anyone remember a time not so long ago when we were facing our immanent demise from a little virus affectionately called “Bird Flu” that was supposed to knock us all on our ear? Well, to be perfectly honest, it wasn’t at the forefront of my list of concerns either. But a recent poultry headline caught my eye and rekindled my interested with the infamous H5N1. Now who amongst you isn’t interested in possible death by bird virus? Remarkably, the rest of the world hasn’t forgotten about our recent “brush with death” and has been working behind the scenes to unravel the mysteries of the virus in attempt to create a viable, marketable vaccine. Migrating Canada Geese, once eliminated au mass to prevent them from carrying the disease from poultry facility to poultry facility can begin to rest easy on their laurels due to news of promising research on H5N1 protein composition. Using this information, researches in the US and Tokyo have discovered simple manipulations of a viral protein that inhibits the replication process of the virus itself. Of course, more tests must be run before anyone runs out and buys the fireworks, but the results are looking promising. To view the whole article and for a more in-depth structural explanation of the protein deletion, see the following site <http://www.worldpoultry.net/news/id220540818/new_approach_a_step_closer_to_developing_h5n1_vaccine.html>. I’m always a fan of new and developing scientific shenanigans on an accusingly benign virus, but with Switzerland now in the scope of Bird Flu’s next assault, a bit of good news on the vaccination front couldn’t come at a better time. To read more on Swiss troubles, see http://www.worldpoultry.net/news/id2205-40836/h5n1_bird_flu_in_switzerland.html.

Lets Not Forget of the Realities Overseas

The existence of the bird flu is only feared in America. However, it is a reality overseas. Observed in ‘The News: International’ the government’s involvement of this real issue in Karachi a providence of Pakistan is growing. Government officials are stepping up to control avian flu types, and have pinpointed several causes of it. With 3,500 poultry farms in the area multi step plans are being formed which include sixteen “master trainers” whom monitor poultry farms. These new plans should reduce further infestations of bird flu’s. Here in American we are only faced with the issue of prevention, more than reduction, however reduction in oversea countries is a form of prevention for the US, and these plans should enter the worldwide agenda to cope with the growing concern of the bird flu.

New human avian flu vaccine

A promising new avain flu (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/) vaccine has just been tested at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Vaccine Research (http://www.cvr.pitt.edu/).

The tests were performed on mice, who showed an immune response to the H5N1 virus and were actually protected from death after being infected.

seeing how, like human flu viruses, the avian virus can change and evolve, this new vaccine was engineered to encode genes for three flu viral proteins. this will help against possible new strains of the virus.

the vaccine uses virus-like particles that the immune system recognizes as a real virus, but does not have genetic information that would allow it to reproduce. these types of vaccines are easyto develop, produce, and manufacture, which makes them very effective and cost-effective in the event of mass production if an avian flu pandemic was a threat.

Avian flu in the news

A new article in the NYTimes highlights the probability (NOT possibility) that the avian flu will mutate and infect humans.

Nature reports that:

The first human case of infection with the H5N1 avian influenza virus has been reported by the Ministry of Health in Laos. The cumulative number of human H5N1 infections worldwide on 1 March 2007 was 277, with 167 deaths.

further, their study guide on the 1918 pandemic is sobering indeed.

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