Until recently, vaccination against bird flu was not permitted in Europe, but with new EU rules and favourable research results, vaccinating poultry is now becoming a serious option. Wageningen Bioveterinary Research is studying how effectively bird flu vaccines protect chickens.
A strong point of HVT vaccines is that a laboratory test can determine whether a vaccinated bird is infected with avian flu
The avian flu virus is conquering the world. For a long time, South America was spared, but even there, the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus has killed thousands of birds and even sea lions in the past six months. The virus can spread quite easily between different bird species as well as to other animal groups. In Europe, otters, foxes and seals have already died of the virus. For this reason, gloves and protective clothing are worn for handling and disposing of dead birds.
In view of the impossibility of preventing all infections by keeping poultry indoors, and continued presence of the virus among wild birds, there has been a growing interest in recent years in the option of vaccinating poultry against bird flu. With a new generation of vaccines, it is now possible to distinguish between vaccinated birds and those infected with bird flu using a laboratory test. This procedure (known as 'DIVA' - Differentiating Infected from Vaccinated Animals) is a key prerequisite for controls in international trade. So the new vaccines remove a major objection to vaccination.
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