Reply To: Time to put farming in the dock re h5n1 spread

[Martin W]

Reuters has item on research, showing: Chicken vaccination can halt bird flu spread -study – protection best from two weeks after vaccine giving

ProMed just cited news item, re poultry vaccine use in China

ProMed, 26 Nov 05

News item included:

Quote:

In a circular issued on Wednesday, the State Council, China’s cabinet, asked local governments to support and supervise designated vaccine producers, and strike hard at those manufacturing fakes.

– suggesting there are significant problems with fakes. There’s list of main manufacturers, including one producing live vaccine – which apparently could lead to problems, as potential for the virus to replicate, become virulent.

ProMed, 8 Mar 05

ProMed also published lengthy review of use of poultry vaccines by David Swayne (poultry disease expert in US):

ProMed, 7 Mar 05 – this seems based on experience in US, rather than in China where vaccines used for thousands of millions of poultry (surely leading to even greater difficulties in ensuring vaccines stored and administered properly – should be given individually), and there are problems with fakes. Even so, notes vaccination is not perfect, and need other measures at same time. Very difficult for China, I think – partly because of scale. Also, shortcuts often taken, to cut costs etc (eg spate of coal mine disasters: to too many officials, safety isn’t a major issue).