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Avian Influenza Daily Digest
December 11, 2008 23:00 GMT
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60-Day HPAI H5N1 Outbreak Map
2008 WHO Confirmed Human Cases HPAI H5N1
AI Daily Digest Archive
Article Summaries ...
Quid Novi
India: Confirmed HPAI Assam State
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
China: Suspected H5 HPAI outbreak in poultry
12/9/08 FAO GLEWS (AFP)--60 out of 60,000 birds died at a farm in the northern Yuen Long District of Hong Kong SAR near the border with Guangdong Province, prompting the cull of 80,000 birds. The outbreak was discovered after a dead chicken was reported on 8 December 2008. Reportedly, the chickens did not die in large numbers but one by one. Some of the infected chickens were vaccinated. After a series of tests it was confirmed as H5 and the N-type is now being analyzed. All chickens within a 3-km-radius of the farm will be destroyed, along with birds at a wholesale market. It is unknown how the chickens became infected. Wild birds are being considered, but it is not the only possibility. Positive H5N1 environmental samples in several live bird markets were found in June 2008.
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
Science and Technology
Vaxfectin-formulated H5N1 pandemic influenza achieves T-cell responses and cross-clade reactivity in humans
12/11/08 Medical News.net--Vical Incorporated has announced that the company's Vaxfectin-formulated H5N1 pandemic influenza DNA vaccines induced T-cell responses against a matching strain of influenza virus and demonstrated cross-clade antibody responses against a different strain in a Phase 1 clinical trial.
AI Research
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AI Research
Vaxfectin-formulated H5N1 pandemic influenza achieves T-cell responses and cross-clade reactivity in humans
12/11/08 Medical News.net--Vical Incorporated has announced that the company's Vaxfectin-formulated H5N1 pandemic influenza DNA vaccines induced T-cell responses against a matching strain of influenza virus and demonstrated cross-clade antibody responses against a different strain in a Phase 1 clinical trial.
The company previously reported that the vaccines had achieved potentially protective levels of antibody responses in up to 67% of evaluable subjects in the trial's higher dose cohorts. Vical researchers presented the expanded data, as well as new nonclinical data from the company's RapidResponse DNA vaccine manufacturing program, this week at the DNA Vaccines 2008 Conference (Las Vegas - December 9-11).
H5N1 Pandemic Influenza Vaccine Phase 1 Trial Update
New data presented at the conference indicates that the company's monovalent Vaxfectin-formulated H5N1 pandemic influenza DNA vaccine induced T-cell responses against the H5 antigen in 75% to 100% of evaluable subjects in the various cohorts. T-cell responses could be important in protecting against serious disease and in limiting the spread of disease during an outbreak.
The monovalent vaccine, which was based on the H5N1 influenza virus strain, A/Vietnam/1203/04, also induced antibody responses against the H5N1 influenza virus strain, A/Hong Kong/156/97 from a different clade, in 50% of responders. Cross-clade responses could be important in providing protection against emerging strains of influenza before a matching vaccine could be deployed.
Antibody and/or T-cell responses against the matching H5 antigen and the conserved NP and M2 antigens were detected in a majority of subjects receiving the trivalent vaccine. Responses against conserved antigens could provide protection against serious disease or death during an outbreak of a new strain of influenza for which a vaccine had not yet been developed.
Vical had previously reported that the monovalent vaccine achieved potentially protective levels of antibody responses (H5 hemagglutination inhibition, or HI, titers of at least 40 and at least a four-fold increase from baseline) in at least 50% and up to 67% of evaluable subjects in a 100-subject Phase 1 trial. In the two monovalent vaccine cohorts receiving the highest H5 DNA dose (1 mg), 80% to 100% of the responders had sustained responses through Day 182.
Vical's monovalent vaccine contained a plasmid (a closed loop of DNA) encoding the hemagglutinin (HA) surface protein from the H5N1 influenza virus strain, A/Vietnam/1203/04. It was designed primarily to elicit antibody responses against the H5 protein but could elicit T-cell responses against H5 as well. Vical's trivalent vaccine contains the H5 plasmid plus separate plasmids encoding consensus sequences of two highly conserved influenza virus proteins: nucleoprotein (NP) and ion channel protein (M2). The trivalent vaccine was designed to elicit a combination of T-cell and antibody responses against all three proteins. Both vaccines were formulated with the company's Vaxfectin adjuvant, which has demonstrated effectiveness with a variety of DNA vaccines in multiple animal models as well as dose-sparing and immune-enhancing ability in animals with a conventional seasonal influenza vaccine.
RapidResponse DNA Vaccine Manufacturing Update
New data presented at the current conference indicates that a single injection of a Vaxfectin-formulated influenza vaccine produced by the company's RapidResponse manufacturing system provided complete protection of mice against challenge with highly lethal doses of H3N2 influenza virus. A dose response was apparent, as mice vaccinated with decreasing doses below a threshold level were afforded decreasing protection. The ratio of Vaxfectin adjuvant to DNA in the vaccine also affected the protective efficacy of the vaccine. In separate tests, the use of alternative PCR primers, an integral part of the RapidResponse manufacturing process, did not significantly affect the protective efficacy of the resulting product.
The RapidResponse system is designed to allow extremely rapid and large-scale production of DNA vaccines with low capital requirements. The company is proceeding with the development of the RapidResponse platform under the second year of grant funding awarded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Quid Novi
India: Confirmed HPAI Assam State
04/12/08 FAO GLEWS--Confirmed H5 HPAI outbreaks in poultry,
Assam State (Department of Animal Husbandry,
Dairying and Fisheries)
HPAI has spread into two new villages: Katajhar Village in
Gobardhana Block, Barpeta District and Katla Village in
Pachim Nalbari Block, Nalbari District, both in Assam State.
Samples collected tested positive for H5 strain of avian
influenza in the rapid tests conducted at the High Security
Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL), Bhopal. Poultry in a 3-
km-radius of the focuses of infection will be culled and
surveillance will be carried out in an area of 10-km-radius.
http://dahd.nic.in/flu/bfconfirmationassam4Dec2008.pdf
Regional Reporting and Surveillance
China: Suspected H5 HPAI outbreak in poultry
12/9/08 FAO GLEWS (AFP)--60 out of 60,000 birds died at a farm in the northern Yuen Long District of Hong Kong SAR near the border with Guangdong Province, prompting the cull of 80,000 birds. The outbreak was discovered after a dead chicken was reported on 8 December 2008. Reportedly, the chickens did not die in large numbers but one by one. Some of the infected chickens were vaccinated. After a series of tests it was confirmed as H5 and the N-type is now being analyzed. All chickens within a 3-km-radius of the farm will be destroyed, along with birds at a wholesale market. It is unknown how the chickens became infected. Wild birds are being considered, but it is not the only possibility. Positive H5N1 environmental samples in several live bird markets were found in June 2008.
