Different countries around the world began to take measures to combat the H5N1 virus, which is already hitting their production systems.
The minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fishing (MGAP), fernando mattosassured in a press conference that from the new foci of avian flu detected in the country, Uruguay stands before aepidemiological threat”, for which a tender was opened to acquire some 10 million doses for a double vaccination scheme. The vaccines will be of two types, vector, and inactivated (the most used worldwide).
Although the decision seems correct and on time, it is true that other countries have gone ahead in the purchase of vaccines, something that could generate a global temporary shortage as a result of the unforeseen increase in international demand.
Last month, bolivian announced that it will begin to implement a vaccination program in farm chickens to prevent further spread of avian influenza, which has already caused some 190,000 sacrifices in the South American country, as a containment plan. This nation acquired some 25 million dosesafter maintaining contacts with laboratories of USA, Europeand Mexico.
On the other hand, laboratories are beginning to prepare for an eventual outbreak on a global scale, after the shock left by the pandemic due to Covid-19. The French firm Sanofiyou already have your vaccine H5N1 code 2.3.4.4b (current clade of the virus), while others such as CSL Seqirus, GSKand modern They are in stages of development.
The OMSA proposed the controlled elimination of infected birds over a mass vaccination
However, the World Organization for Animal Health (OMSA) suggested controlled culling of infected poultry as a measure that should be presented “whether or not vaccination is applied as part of the general strategy”, since they understand that mass vaccination could be counterproductive by “hiding silent infections and compromising the surveillance of circulating strains”.
Although avian flu has been shown to be highly pathogenic in its spread in recent years, wreaking havoc at the production level, it rarely affects humans. As reported by the MGAP, during 2022 only two cases were registered in America, one in a village of Ecuadorand the other in the United States.
In the North American country, all the states detected avian influenza in wild birds, however, the spokesman for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Mike Stepienargued that “many factors must be considered before implementing a vaccination strategy.”
Source: Ambito
