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'Better' bird-flu vaccination needed for poultry21 August 2006 Scientists are warning that if birds are vaccinated for bird flu, the entire flock needs to be protected or the spread of the disease could be made worse. Researchers from the universities of Edinburgh and Warwick claim that vaccinating individual birds may not be enough to combat the spread of bird flu and the whole flock must be protected. Poultry are currently at risk of contracting a deadly strain of bird flu - also known as avian flu - called H5N1. The disease can kill large numbers of poultry and other birds, passing quickly among flocks. Although humans can catch the potentially fatal disease from close contact with birds, experts are currently concerned about the prospect of the virus mutating into a form which can be easily transmitted between humans - which could cause a pandemic. But farmers say vaccination of poultry flocks can be tricky, as they can only manage to protect around 90 percent of birds. This means any infected birds in the remaining ten percent are more difficult to spot, allowing the virus to contaminate the birds' surroundings without farmers realising. Writing in the journal Nature, the scientists say more than 95 percent of the flock need to be protected. Dr Nick Savill, of the University of Edinburgh's Centre for Infectious Diseases, said: "Vaccination reduces the chance of birds becoming infected and reduces the amount of virus they shed and the time over which they shed it. "If vaccination is to be used it needs to be done extremely well or it could make the problem worse, rather than better." Related linksMore information
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