Vaccine protects from deadly Hendra virus
May 17, 2011 in Medications
CSIRO's high bio-containment facility at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory was necessary to safely asses the vaccine’s effectiveness. Image credit - CSIRO
(Medical Xpress) -- CSIRO scientists have shown that a new experimental vaccine helps to protect horses against the deadly Hendra virus.
Dr Deborah Middleton from CSIROs Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) will announce the successful progress to develop the vaccine at the Australian Veterinary Association conference in Adelaide today.
Our trials so far have shown that the vaccine prevents the infection of horses with Hendra virus, Dr Middleton said.
Stopping the disease in horses could also help protect people from the disease.
A horse vaccine is crucial to breaking the cycle of Hendra virus transmission from flying foxes to horses and then to people, as it prevents both the horse developing the disease and passing it on, Dr Middleton said.
Hendra virus first appeared in 1994 and five of the 14 known outbreaks have spread to people. The virus has killed four of the seven people infected.
Depending on further development, field trials and registration the vaccine may be available as early as 2012.
Dr Barry Smyth, President of the Australian Veterinary Association, said that the news on the vaccine will be welcomed by both vets and horse owners.
Its important that veterinarians and horse owners continue with precautions that reduce the risk of spreading the virus and that they report suspected cases immediately, Dr Smyth said.
Recent work on evaluating the vaccine was jointly funded by the CSIRO, the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Queensland Government Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation.
The development of the vaccine goes back more than ten years to shortly after CSIRO scientists first isolated the virus following the first outbreak of the disease in Hendra, Queensland.
Development and source of the vaccine is the result of a close collaboration with Dr Christopher Broder of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (the US federal health sciences university) supported by the US National Institutes of Health, but the high bio-containment facility at AAHL was essential for evaluating its beneficial effects.
Our bio-security facility at AAHL is the only laboratory in the world where this work could have been done. It has been slow, painstaking and high-risk work and the credit is due to many people whove worked on this since 1994, Dr Middleton said.
Provided by
CSIRO
-
Minimising the spread of deadly Hendra virus
Mar 31, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Minimizing the spread of deadly Hendra virus
Apr 15, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Scientists Develop Vaccine Against Deadly Viruses
Oct 04, 2006 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Breakthrough in fight against Hendra virus
Oct 30, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Australia uses experimental drug to halt virus spread
Jun 01, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Limits to growth: Scientists identify key metastasis-enabling enzyme
May 22, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
-
Seeing is as seeing does: Spatially-structured retinal input in early development of cortical maps
Apr 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
1
-
Dreamless nights: Brain activity during nonrapid eye movement sleep
Apr 09, 2012 |
4.4 / 5 (12) |
0
-
Take your time: Neurobiology sheds light on the superiority of spaced vs. massed learning
Mar 28, 2012 |
4.5 / 5 (21) |
3
-
Your brain on 'shrooms: fMRI elucidates neural correlates of psilocybin psychedelic state
Feb 29, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (42) |
45
-
A question about drug tolerance
19 hours ago
-
Poor nutrition leading to overeating?
May 23, 2012
-
Math and dyslexia?
May 21, 2012
-
portable metabolism meter?
May 21, 2012
-
Rare medical conditions on 20/20 tonight
May 18, 2012
-
"Good" Cholesterol in Doubt
May 17, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
Missouri opts for untested drug for executions
(AP) -- The same anesthetic that caused the overdose death of pop star Michael Jackson is now the drug of choice for executions in Missouri, causing a stir among critics who question how the state can guarantee ...
Medications
4 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Aspirin may prevent recurrence of deep vein blood clots
(HealthDay) -- After suffering a type of blood clot called a venous thromboembolism, patients usually take a blood-thinner such as warfarin (Coumadin). But aspirin may do just as well after a period of time, ...
Medications
20 hours ago |
not rated yet |
1
|
Patients may receive too much acetaminophen in hospital
(HealthDay) -- Roughly 2.5 percent of admitted hospital patients may receive more than the safe daily cumulative dose of the pain-reliever acetaminophen, best known as Tylenol, on at least one day, according ...
Medications
20 hours ago |
1 / 5 (1) |
0
New quality standards limiting elemental impurities in medicines announced
As part of its ongoing efforts to help ensure the quality of medicines, the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) has announced two new standards related to elemental impurities: General Chapters Elemental ImpuritiesLimits and ...
Medications
22 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Quality standards for heparin further strengthened
To help further secure a safe supply of the widelyused blood thinner heparin, a third round of revisions to quality standards for the drug has been advanced by the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP). USP's Expert Panel ...
Medications
22 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
The cells' petrol pump is finally identified
The oxygen and food we consume are converted into energy by tiny organelles present in each cell, the mitochondria. These 'power plants' must be continuously supplied with fuel, to maintain all vital functions. A team led ...
Researchers identify protein necessary for behavioral flexibility
Researchers have identified a protein necessary to maintain behavioral flexibility, which allows us to modify our behaviors to adjust to circumstances that are similar, but not identical, to previous experiences. Their findings, ...
Boundary stops molecule right where it needs to be
A molecule responsible for the proper formation of a key portion of the nervous system finds its way to the proper place not because it is actively recruited, but instead because it can't go anywhere else.
Thioridazine kills cancer stem cells in human while avoiding toxic side-effects of conventional cancer treatments
A team of scientists at McMaster University has discovered a drug, thioridazine, successfully kills cancer stem cells in the human while avoiding the toxic side-effects of conventional cancer treatments.
Researcher calls for new approach to regulating probiotics
In today's Nature scientific journal Dr. Gregor Reid, Director of the Canadian R&D Centre for Probiotics at Lawson Health Research Institute and a scientist at Western University, calls for a Category Tree system to be imp ...
Male fertility genes discovered
A new study has revealed previously undiscovered genetic variants that influence fertility in men. The findings, published by Cell Press on May 24th in the American Journal of Human Genetics, shed much-needed light on hum ...