DOMESTIC FOWL Experts produce bird-flu vaccine

The vaccine could prevent the spread of an outbreak, one researcher said.
THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN
TOKYO -- Researchers have successfully produced a vaccine for domestic fowl against the H5N1 strain of the bird-flu virus for the first time in Japan, they announced at an academic conference this week.
The vaccine appears to act more quickly than other vaccines, with a single injection increasing the antibodies that attack the virus in the birds in just two weeks.
The group, which includes Hokkaido University researchers, hopes the vaccine will replace ones the Japanese government imports and stockpiles in preparation for a potential bird-flu epidemic.
"The new vaccine increases antibodies by a remarkable amount," said Yoshihiro Sakota, an associate professor at the university's graduate school of veterinary medicine. "Even if the bird is infected, the virus doesn't multiply much, so the vaccine might be able to prevent an outbreak from spreading."
Announcement
The announcement was made at the joint conference of the Japan Veterinary Medical Association and the Japanese Society of Veterinary Science, which was held in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture.
The researchers produced a modified version of the H5N1 strain that is neither toxic nor infectious by using parts of H5N2 and H7N1 strains found in Mongolia.
After injecting the modified virus into a 4-week-old chick, the researchers found the bird produced antibodies that recognize a protein unique to influenza and attack it.
The scientists then infected birds that had received the new vaccine as well as birds that had not with the H5N1 strain. Birds that had not received the vaccination died within two weeks, but those that had been given the vaccine stayed healthy.