UK response Re: EU approves vaccination
- From: " Jill" <newsNOSPAM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 13:43:17 -0000
Bird flu vaccine no 'silver bullet'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4737276.stm
By Rebecca Morelle BBC News science reporter
Vaccination could stop the train of transmission
Vaccinating the UK's poultry is not currently needed as a precautionary
measure against bird flu, many leading animal health experts say.
Only if an outbreak occurs and other preventative strategies fail should the
government consider the option, they told the BBC News website.
Current bird flu vaccines do not offer complete protection from infection
and could, in some circumstances, "hide" the virus in affected flocks, they
believe.
A government spokesperson said that, at present, vaccines were "not a path
that they want to go down".
"Vaccination offers potential benefits but currently available vaccines are
too limited to provide a general solution," he added.
Increased vigilance
The UK has not yet been struck by the virulent form of bird flu, H5N1; but
ministers admit the chances of it arriving are increasing and have called
for raised vigilance.
Were an outbreak to occur, emergency measures would be enacted. Infected
flocks would be culled and bio-secure zones would be set up around affected
farms - but vaccination of infection-free birds is not planned at present.
Stephen Lister, a poultry veterinarian, told the BBC News website that, in
his view, this tactic should be adequate.
"As an island country, I think that vigilance, surveillance and the stamping
out of any case that appears very quickly is the best way to approach it,"
he explained.
It is a tool to help us control the situation, but not a 'silver bullet' to
wipe the disease out
Stephen Lister, poultry vet
"I can't see enough to warrant us vaccinating all of our susceptible birds,
because I don't think the risk is high enough at the moment."
However, scientists agreed that vaccination should not be ruled out as it
could be a useful measure for controlling the disease if it spreads in the
UK.
"The obvious benefit is that you can stop the virus in its tracks," said Dr
Wendy Barclay, a virologist at the University of Reading.
"And the fewer number of chickens infected, the less the exposure of people;
and from an economic point of view, you lose fewer birds. It's all about
breaking the train of transmission."
Animal welfare
Dr Bob McCracken, president of the British Veterinary Association, also said
vaccination should be considered for free range birds.
"We don't necessarily need to be thinking about vaccinating the entire
poultry population in the UK," he said, "but we should consider vaccinating
those free range birds that have been brought indoors.
If you vaccinate you will protect from disease, but you will not
necessarily give complete protection from infection
John McCauley, Institute of Animal Health
"The time will come when we have three options. We can turn these birds out
and risk infection. Keep them in but recognise this would be very
detrimental to their health and welfare; or we could vaccinate them."
But the scientists stressed that while vaccinating against bird flu can be
advantageous, there are problems associated with it.
"If you vaccinate you will protect from disease, but you will not
necessarily give complete protection from infection," explained Dr John
McCauley, at the Institute of Animal Health.
"So whilst the birds are infected with the highly pathogenic flu virus which
would normally kill them, they are not dying."
China is vaccinating of all of its domestic poultry
Dr Barclay added that this could be dangerous for human health, increase the
risk of passing the virus from poultry back into wild birds, and be worrying
in terms of virus mutations.
"The Chinese have made a vaccine based on reverse genetics made with H5N1
antigens, and they have been using it," she said.
"There has been a lot of criticism of what they have done, because they have
protected their chickens against death from this virus but the chickens
still get infected; and then you get drift - the virus mutates in response
to the antibodies - and now we have a situation where we have five or six
'flavours' of H5N1 out there."
Vaccine stockpile
One method of protecting against this would be to introduce "sentinel birds"
into vaccinated flocks. These purposefully unvaccinated birds would indicate
if the flock has become infected by the H5N1 virus.
Dr John McCauley also cautioned that once vaccination was stopped, infection
could arise again.
"When you vaccinate you will reduce the intensity of the infection and
disease, but when you stop vaccinating the disease will come back again,
because you haven't eliminated it," he said.
Stephen Lister concurred: "It is a tool to help us control the situation,
but is not a 'silver bullet' to wipe the disease out."
Professor Neil Ferguson, of Imperial College London, said a long-term
strategy for bird flu in the UK was needed.
"I think it is maybe a little bit premature for us to be vaccinating right
now in this country, but we need to at least be stockpiling vaccine," he
said.
"I think we need to be thinking what we will be doing in 12-48 months' time
in terms of having a sustainable policy which minimises the chance of the
infection getting into domestic poultry."
--
regards
Jill Bowis
Pure bred utility chickens and ducks
Housing; Equipment, Books, Videos, Gifts
Herbaceous; Herb and Alpine nursery
Working Holidays in Scotland
http://www.kintaline.co.uk
.
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- EU approves vaccination
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