Avian Influenza Poultry Vaccines

Imugene has developed an avian influenza (bird flu) vaccine that has been proven to be 100% effective in preventing infection of the highly pathogenic H5N1 disease.

The bird flu vaccine uses the same platform ‘Adenoviral Delivery System’ used in Imugene’s successfully licensed Poultry Productivity Enhancer. By stimulating the chicken’s immune system to produce antibodies and cell mediated immunity to the bird flu virus, it is protected from the disease if it becomes exposed to it.

A successful vaccine must be able to be administered quickly and cheaply to millions of birds. Imugene’s bird flu vaccine can be administered to birds through drinking water, feed or by aerosol spray.

The disease

Bird flu is a viral infection that occurs in many species of birds. Wild birds worldwide carry the viruses in their intestines. The viruses are very contagious among birds including chickens, ducks, and turkeys.

The H5N1 virus can also infect people. The mortality rate in humans infected with the H5N1 influenza virus strain is significant. Most of these fatal cases have occurred in people who have had close contact with infected poultry or contaminated surfaces.
 

Advantages of Imugene’s bird flu vaccines

  • High efficacy at an early age
  • Low cost of producing commercial quantities of the vaccine
  • Low cost of mass administration
    • Individual bird handling not required
    • In ovo administration via egg injection equipment undertaken by most US poultry broiler hatcheries
    • Very cost effective for mass administration to entire poultry sheds containing many thousands of birds
  • Marker vaccine - allows authorities to differentiate between infected and vaccinated birds
  • Safe to use - cannot mutate or recombine with human flu viruses
  • Adaptable - easily and quickly adapted to protect against other strains of influenza

Current treatments are inadequate

Existing methods of dealing with birds at risk of infection are limited to culling or individually injecting each bird with one of the few currently available vaccines.

Current preventative bird flu vaccines are expensive, and many either risk mutating, forming new strains of bird flu (live attenuated vaccines), or require large doses (killed vaccines).

Expanding uses address future needs

Other types of avian influenza viruses (H7 and H9 strains) exist in several countries and outbreaks regularly occur. Imugene is developing modifications to its proven H5N1 vaccine for these two types of bird flu.

Development of a matching diagnostic tool for each of the vaccines is also underway. The Imugene diagnostic test will enable vaccinated chickens to be differentiated from naturally infected chickens – a key feature if governments mandate flock vaccination. Most existing vaccines do not allow blood tests to distinguish vaccinated birds and infected birds. In a disease outbreak or during surveillance this creates confusion about which birds to cull or when the infection is gone.