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Title: Avian influenza vaccines and therapies for poultry

Author
item Swayne, David

Submitted to: Comparative Immunology Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/11/2007
Publication Date: 3/15/2009
Citation: Swayne, D.E. 2009. Avian influenza vaccines and therapies for poultry. Comparative Immunology Microbiology and Infectious Diseases. 32:351-363.

Interpretive Summary: Vaccines have been used in avian influenza (AI) control programs to prevent, manage or eradicate AI from poultry and other birds. The best protection is produced from antibodies against the surface hemagglutinin protein. The current licensed vaccines are predominate killed whole AI vaccines, typically produced from low pathogenicity (LP) AI virus strains, or occasionally from high pathogenicity AI virus strains. Recently, biotechnology has progressed to development of a system to construct vaccine viruses from assembling individual genes. These vaccines are very safe and have a high production of vaccine. Other licensed AI vaccines include biotechnology vaccine using a fowl poxvirus or Newcastle disease virus to deliver an influenza hemagglutinin gene. These new vaccines will make vaccination of poultry against avian influenza easier.

Technical Abstract: Vaccines have been used in avian influenza (AI) control programs to prevent, manage or eradicate AI from poultry and other birds. The best protection is produced from the humoral response against the hemagglutinin (HA) protein. A variety of vaccines have been developed and tested under experimental conditions with a few receiving licensure and field use following demonstration of purity, safety, efficacy and potency. Current licensed vaccines are predominate inactivated whole AI vaccines, typically produced from low pathogenicity (LP) AI virus strains, or occasionally from high pathogenicity AI virus strains. Recently, reverse genetic procedures have been developed that allow construction of vaccine strains using a genetically altered HA gene (changing HP HA proteolytic cleavage site to LP) and a backbone of internal gene segments for safe, high growth production. Other licensed AI vaccines include recombinant fowl poxvirus vector with an AI H5 insert and a recombinant Newcastle disease virus vector with an AI H5 gene insert. The latter vaccine can be mass administered via aerosol application.