Is There a Bird Flu Vaccine?

BirdNote^®
Is There a Bird Flu Vaccine? 
Written by Jasmine ‘Jazzi’ Johnson

Purbita Saha: This is BirdNote.

 With bird flu on the rise, so are concerns for birds, animals and even humans. But Dr. Wendy Puryear, a molecular virologist, says that scientists are taking every precaution — including immunization — for the endangered, like the California Condor.  

Wendy Puryear: A pretty high number were getting infected and were dying from the virus, and when you're talking about a species that's critically endangered, that's a really bad situation. So there was a vaccine that was rolled out in that scenario.

Purbita Saha: But Wendy says that’s not typically the case.

Wendy Puryear: It's impacting so many different species that vaccinating all animals is clearly not possible.

But there are some countries that are already vaccinating poultry. It's not something that is approved within the U.S. yet, but that is something that's being discussed.

And then for human health… there would be a different form of the vaccine that we already have for seasonal influenza. That groundwork has already been done. So, there's already a seed stock to fairly rapidly grow up and roll out. 

Purbita Saha: Wendy says the risk of widespread infections among humans is very low, and the few cases where transmission did happen are being investigated. Nonetheless, scientists are working together worldwide to decrease the threat to birds, other wildlife and people.

Wendy Puryear: I'm actually pretty impressed with how well people  have been so proactive across all these different agencies to try to share info… Everybody is working their tail off.

Purbita Saha: Got more questions about bird flu? Listen to the season six finale of Bring Birds Back in your favorite podcast app or at BirdNote dot org. I’m Purbita Saha.
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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Editor: Jasmine ‘Jazzi’ Johnson
Content Director: Jonese Franklin

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© 2024 BirdNote December 2024
Narrator: Purbita Saha

ID# PodBBB-38-2024-12-11    PodBBB-38