The trial is an important step towards large-scale vaccination of poultry against the bird flu virus. The bird flu virus occurs worldwide in birds, which also puts poultry at risk of infection. Vaccination can reduce the risk of outbreaks. “The principle of a vaccine is very good. The ideal is zero virus spread after an infection,” says Sjaak de Wit, professor and researcher in poultry health care at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Utrecht. “I am quite optimistic, the test is of course being done because it is necessary. We would now like to see how long a vaccine can last.”
Is new vaccine the solution against bird flu? ‘Better today than tomorrow’
