With recent reports of avian flu H5N1 spreading across Asia towards Turkey, it's nice to see a positive report on virus research. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have engineered a vaccine for H5N1 that provided 100% protection tests on in mice and chickens. Moreover, the vaccine successfully triggers a broad immune response that could work against multiple variants of the infection.
The focus of the research is on a vaccine for use in captive bird populations; the human infections have largely been in people who handle poultry. H5N1 is 100% fatal to chickens, but this vaccine, when delivered subcutaneously, protected all test chickens against levels of the virus far larger than they would likely face in a natural outbreak.
