A South Dakota company says it is ready to move forward with an avian flu vaccine for dairy if and when the government approves its use.
Medgene has signed an agreement with Elanco to sell and distribute its avian flu vaccine for dairy. The company uses a “plug-and-play” development process that allows researchers to insert a gene or genes into a vector to quickly develop a vaccine. It has developed vaccines for rabbit hemorrhagic disease and for several diseases affecting pigs.
According to a company press release, the vaccine has met all requirements of USDA’s platform technology guidelines and is in final stages of review for conditional license approval.
Vaccine development to combat highly pathogenic avian influenza is one of the most significant parts of a recent USDA announcement of a shift in strategy to combat the disease, which has claimed tens of millions of birds, affected dairy production and has led to record-high egg prices.
USDA’s recently announced “five-prong approach” to combat HPAI includes $100 million for vaccine research; $500 million for biosecurity measures; $400 million in financial relief for affected farmers, action to reduce regulatory burdens and temporary import options.
The department last month conditionally approved a vaccine made by Zoetis to protect poultry. According to Science.com, the vaccine contains a killed version of an H5N2 variant the company has designed to work against circulating variants of H5N1.
The egg-layer industry has come out in support of mass vaccination of egg-laying birds as more than 77% of HPAI cases in commercial poultry have been in layer operations, according to data from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
The broiler industry has been opposed to mass vaccination because of fears that it could hamper international trade. About 16% of chicken meat production in the U.S. is exported, according to the National Chicken Council.
Even if USDA grants a conditional-use license, it must still give approval to deploy vaccines, and it is unclear when that could occur.
Current numbers
More than 767 commercial poultry flocks have tested positive for H5N1 since the outbreak began in 2022. It has affected 166 million birds.
After a spike in official detections in commercial poultry in December and January – 70 detections in the 30-day period reported Dec. 24 and 85 detections in the 30-day period reported Jan. 25 – there were 59 detections reported for the 30-day period that expired Feb. 25.
On dairy farms, 976 cases of the virus have been reported in 17 states. Over the past 30 days, 16 new cases of H5N1 in dairy cows have been reported, including the first cases in Nevada and Arizona. Like in poultry, there is usually a lag between states reporting a case and USDA then confirming, so it is also likely that this official number is higher.