Researchers make headway on universal avian flu vaccine

College Park, Md.

-- A team of researchers specializing in the study of the Avian Influenza virus, H9N2, at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine say they have developed a universal vaccine for animals that may also help prevent or delay the spread of the virus to humans.

The study, led by the one of the college's associate professors and virologist Daniel Perez, utilized genes from the H9N2 virus to create a live, weakened flu vaccine. The "backbone" genes isolated in the virus consist of genes common to other flu strains and can be used to with surface proteins to make vaccines specifically designed to fight various influenza viruses.

The vaccine developed in the study was shown effective protecting chickens, their eggs and mice from the H9N2 virus, as well as the H5N1 strain and one other type of influenza. The group hopes continue testing the vaccine on mammals whose immune systems mimic humans', like pigs and ferrets.

The complete study is published online in the Journal of General Virology and can be viewed here.