A live vaccine platform under development by University of Missouri researchers could address one of the major barriers preventing widespread vaccination for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the U.S. poultry industry: the inability to distinguish vaccinated birds from infected ones for international trade purposes.
Wenjun Ma, professor of molecular microbiology and immunology in the Department of Pathobiology and Integrative Biomedical Sciences and Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Missouri, is leading the project to develop a Newcastle disease virus (NDV)-vectored vaccine that simultaneously protects against both HPAI H5N1 and Newcastle disease while providing critical DIVA (Differentiating Infected from Vaccinated Animals) functionality. Read more