PARIS/AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Bird flu vaccines for laying hens are effective in practice, the Dutch government said on Tuesday, as it confirmed plans to vaccinate birds against the virus that has devastated flocks around the world and fears about human transmission are rising.
The highly pathogenic bird flu, commonly called bird flu, has killed or caused the culling of hundreds of millions of poultry around the world in recent years, most of them laying hens, sending egg prices soaring.
A first series of tests carried out by Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (WBVR) at the beginning of last year showed that two vaccines against bird flu, produced by the French Ceva Animal Health and the German Boehringer Ingelheim, were effective against the virus.
“In September 2023, 1,800 one-day-old chicks were vaccinated against bird flu. The results show that the two vaccines tested are effective against virus infection eight weeks after vaccination,” the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement.
“The fact that the vaccines work in practice is a very important step towards large-scale vaccination of birds against the avian influenza virus,” he said.
Avian flu is raising increasing concerns as the disease increasingly spreads to mammals, with the first outbreaks detected in dairy cows in the United States raising concerns about its spread to humans through the country’s milk supply.
More transmission trials will be carried out over the next year and a half to assess the effectiveness of the vaccines throughout the laying period, the Dutch ministry said.
Australia last week reported its first case of bird flu in a child who was infected in India, while a different, highly infectious strain was found at an egg farm.
“The government intends to make large-scale vaccination possible in a responsible way, taking into account animal and public health, as well as animal welfare. Also minimize any unfavorable effects of vaccination on trade. chosen,” he said.
(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
