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Sunday, 16 February, 2025
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US and Europe move to secure bird flu jabs

America and Europe are taking steps to acquire or manufacture H5N1 bird flu vaccines that could be used to protect at-risk poultry and dairy workers, vets and lab technicians, while Britain is “closely monitoring” the situation and Canada has already discussed a pre-pandemic jab with its seasonal flu vaccine-maker.

Influenza experts said vaccinating at-risk workers could curb the threat of a pandemic.

Last week US officials were moving bulk vaccine – from CSL Seqirus – that closely matches the current virus into finished shots that could provide 4.8m doses of vaccine.

European health officials told Reuters they were also in talks to acquire CSL’s pre-pandemic vaccine.

Canadian health officials said they had already held discussions with GSK, which makes that country’s seasonal flu shots, to discuss acquiring and manufacturing a pre-pandemic bird flu vaccine once its seasonal flu production capacity is freed up.

Other countries, including the UK, are discussing how to proceed on pre-pandemic vaccines, scientists said.

The actions follow the explosive spread of a new strain of bird flu that emerged in late 2020 and has caused unprecedented numbers of deaths among wild birds and domestic poultry and has begun infecting many mammal species.

This comes as a Michigan farmworker has been diagnosed with bird flu – the second human case associated with an outbreak in America’s dairy cows – but health officials say only mild symptoms were noted, and the risk to the public remains low.

In a statement, the US Centres for Disease Control & Prevention said an initial nasal swab was negative for influenza, but an eye swab sent to the agency tested positive for influenza A(H5) virus.

Similar to the other US case reported earlier this year – in Texas – the Michigan patient only had eye symptoms, reports AP News.

The CDC said the latest case does not change its current H5N1 bird flu human health risk assessment for the general public, which the agency considers to be low.

As of Wednesday, the virus had been confirmed in 51 dairy herds in nine states, according to the US Agriculture Department, with 15 of them in Michigan.

Officials declined to say how many people exposed to infected cattle have been tested or monitored.

The new case marks the third time a person in America has been diagnosed with what's known as Type A H5N1 virus. In 2022, a prison inmate in a work programme picked it up while killing infected birds at a poultry farm in Colorado.

His only symptom was fatigue, and he recovered. That predated the virus’ appearance in cows.

Reuters says in March, American officials reported the first outbreak of the virus in dairy cattle, which has infected dozens of herds in nine states and two dairy workers. The FDA has estimated that 20% of the US milk supply shows signs of the virus, indicating a wider spread is likely.

Human exposures to the virus in poultry and dairy operations could increase the risk that the virus will mutate and gain the ability to spread easily in people.

“Our efforts need to be focused on preventing those events from happening,” said Matthew Miller, co-director of the Canadian Pandemic Preparedness Hub at McMaster University. “Once we have widespread infections of humans, we’re in big trouble.”

Dr Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan, said she has been in discussions with US and Canadian officials about using vaccines to protect workers since the virus’ spread into new mammal species.

Dawn O’Connell of the US Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response said the government is “looking closely” at the possibility of vaccinating farm workers and others in close contact with the virus.

Discussions about pre-pandemic vaccine use are being held at government levels and among scientists in a number of places, including in the UK, said Wendy Barclay, chair in influenza virology at University College London, who also researches avian flu for the UK Health Security Agency.

The British Government did not comment but said it was monitoring the situation in the US.

In Europe, the European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority is working on a joint procurement of CSL Seqirus’ vaccine to “potentially prevent a pandemic” sparked by individuals exposed to infected birds and animals, spokesman Stefan De Keersmaecker told Reuters.

A spokeswoman for CSL, which has contracts for pandemic influenza vaccines with 30 governments, said the company has been in talks with several governments about procuring vaccines since 2022. Those requests have accelerated with the US outbreak, she said.

Pre-pandemic stockpile

America maintains a stockpile of pre-pandemic vaccine candidates and bulk vaccine against an array of flu strains, and conducts clinical trials to support an Emergency Use Authorisation or FDA licence in the event of pandemic.

Seasonal flu vaccine makers, including Sanofi, could also be asked to shift to producing pandemic flu vaccines.

The US is in talks with mRNA vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna about potential pandemic vaccines.

The decision on how and when to use the vaccine will hinge on evidence of increased transmission, severity of disease, cases in people with no link to a dairy farm and mutations in the virus, US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Principal Deputy Director Nirav Shah said.

 

Reuters article – US, European nations consider vaccinating workers exposed to bird flu (Open access)

AP Michigan farmworker diagnosed with bird flu, becoming 2nd US case tied to dairy cows

See more from MedicalBrief archives:

 

First human bird flu case in Australia

 

WHO flags ‘extraordinarily high’ bird flu mortality rate in humans

 

Lancet launches major ‘spillover’ probe after bird flu deaths

 

Why most bird flu viruses don’t move to people – Scottish study

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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