U.S., Malaysia team up to vaccinate against potentially lethal pig virus
Ames, Iowa-Although there are no documented cases of Nipah virus in the United States, it doesn't discount the virus' potential to cause lethal disease in humans and swine here.
Ames, Iowa-Although there are no documented cases of Nipah virusin the United States, it doesn't discount the virus' potential to causelethal disease in humans and swine here.
To prevent such a possibility, the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionin Atlanta, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Plum Island Animal DiseaseCenter in New York, and the Veterinary Research Institute in Malaysia arejoining forces on development of a vaccine.
Malaysia faced a serious viral outbreak in 1998 and 1999, causing thedeaths of more than 1 million swine and encephalitic conditions in 265 humans.
Signs of Nipah in swine include rapid breathing, lethargy or aggressivebehavior. In humans, who can only contract the zoonotic disease though contactwith swine, symptoms include a fever, severe headache and signs of encephalitis.
Dr. James Roth, Iowa State University assistant dean of veterinary medicine,is collaborating with other scientists to develop methods to prevent thedisease's resurgence. The vaccine in the development stages would inducean immune response for Nipah virus proteins in swine.
The study's objective is to use a viral vector to determine if productionof an immune response to Nipah virus proteins in swine results in immunityto the virus, according to Roth.
