Avian Influenza Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Avian Influenza, including details on bird flu, h5n1, risks, vaccines, prevention.

Silent spread of H5N1 in vaccinated poultry.

Savill NJ, St Rose SG, Keeling MJ, Woolhouse ME

Centre for Infectious Diseases, University of Edinburgh, Ashworth Laboratories, The King's Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK. nick.savill@ed.ac.uk

International debate on the merits of vaccinating poultry against the H5N1 influenza A virus has raised concerns about the possibility of an increased risk of between-flock transmission before outbreaks are detected. Here we show that this 'silent spread' can occur because of incomplete protection at the flock level, even if a vaccine is effective in individual birds. The use of unvaccinated sentinels can mitigate, although not completely eliminate, the problem.

Published 17 August 2006 in Nature, 442(7104): 757.
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