The U.S. is working to develop a bird flu vaccine which will be protecting poultries from new strains of avian flu, responsible for killing birds from Arkansas to Washington State in recent times.
A panel of scientists from U.S. Department of Agriculture research stationed in Georgia will be testing the vaccine on chickens in about 2 months to observe how much they help the prevention of getting sick and dying of the virus.
In the past, there were no reports of the U.S. government being involved in the development of any such vaccine. Following the H5N8 and H5N2 flu strains infecting the commercial poultry operations and backyard flock in 8 states ever since December, this move has been initiated.
The effectiveness of an existing vaccine has been tested on the new strains but the performance was not up to the standard the scientist was looking for. This new vaccine has been developed in the Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory.
The major importers of U.S. poultry abroad has enforced restrictions due to the recent outbreak of bird flu at the same time there has been a enhancement in bio-security at the farms of the world’s largest poultry providers.
USDA has previously mentioned that the new strain of avian flu has been caused by wild birds. Authorities have said on Monday that there is no plan of distributing the vaccine as of yet. As an alternative, the U.S. will keep on continuing to gather the infected flock of birds and test the ones close by it for preventing further diffusion.
According to T.J. Myers, associate deputy director of surveillance, preparedness, and response services for the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the development of this vaccine is being carried out because the government requires a countermeasure for the containment strategy. The organization will eventually decide whether they will release the vaccine or not.
The vaccine can be used once the avian flu is not possible to be contained any further, according to Mark Jackwood, head of the University of Georgia’s Department of Population Health
Myers has also mentioned that the new strains have been detected in wild birds which can carry the virus so there is no certainty in predicting where the next case might be. He has also said that vaccinating all the poultry nationwide is neither necessary nor is it practical.