new pre pandemic avian flu vaccine progress

Development of a new candidate H5N1 avian influenza virus for pre‐pandemic vaccine production

BACKGROUND Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses currently circulating in birds have caused hundreds of human infections, and pose a significant pandemic threat. Vaccines are a major component of the public health preparedness for this likely event. The rapid evolution of H5N1 viruses has resulted in the emergence of multiple clades with distinct antigenic characteristics that require ...

Avian killer flu pandemic: fact, fear, or fiction.

Development of live cultural pandemic influenza vaccine Vector-Flu

Background The threat of pandemic A/H1N1 influenza remains a matter of considerable public concern. Recent influenza outbreaks underline the importance of rapid production of a reserve of vaccine sufficient for pandemic and interpandemic periods. Traditional vaccines intended for seasonal influenza do not satisfy this demand, because they are unable to induce cross-reactive antibodies to pandem...

Preparing for the next flu pandemic: from SARS to avian flu.

There were three episodes of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) (including one pandemic) in China from 2003 to 2004. Starting from 2002, we are also aware of the increasing alert of an avian flu pandemic. Epidemics of SARS and avian flu have posed huge threats to social stability, economic prosperity and human health in this country. Our experience during the SARS outbreaks can be of grea...

Strategic analysis on responding human avian flu and flu pandemic in China.

The 20th century has witnessed three global influenza pandemics attacking mankind, namely the 1918 Spanish pandemic (H1N1 subgroup), the 1957 Asian pandemic (H2N2 subgroup) and the 1968 Hong Kong pandemic (H3N2 subgroup). The first pandemic swept throughout the entire world within six to nine months, which affected 400 million people, accounting for 20% of the total world population, and 40 to ...

Avian Zoonoses: beyond Avian Flu

PSITTICOSIS Also known as parrot fever and ornithosis, psittacosis is caused by Chlamydophila psittaci, an obligate intracellular bacterial infection of birds that can cause severe pneumonia and other serious disease in humans (on average 250 reported cases per year in the US). Most cases resulted from exposure to infected pet birds, (cockatiels, parakeets, parrots, and macaws). Infected birds ...