The IBR (Conicet-UNR) researcher, Christian Magni, received the award from the National Innovation Contest “Innovar” 2023 from the Ministry of Science, which recognizes those who dare to invent, design and develop products and services in the country. His project, “Development of an oral vaccine against avian influenza,” was selected second in the “Food” section and also recognized by INTI and INTA.
The proposal for this vaccine arises from the threat that the industry is currently suffering from an epidemic of avian flu, a highly contagious disease that can cause serious illness and death in infected birds. A key solution to address this problem would be the implementation of mass vaccination of birds providing immunity against the virus and preventing the spread of the disease in poultry farms.
The project led by Magni consists of the development of this vaccine using a bacteria called Lactococcus lactis. In this, the engineering is done to generate and transport the viral antigen conjugated with a highly effective adjuvant. It is administered to animals orally through feed or water and in this way stimulates the immune response in the gastrointestinal tract of birds.
The microorganism selected for the design of this vaccine “is considered safe for human consumption and widely used as a starter culture for fermentations in the dairy industry,” says the Doctor in Biotechnology and adds that in recent decades the interest of its use in the production of therapeutic proteins and in the development of recombinant vaccines.
Innovative system
Magni explains that the production of flu vaccines generally includes traditional ways, such as the use of chicken embryos, development of inactivated viruses, the use of mutant viruses or the production of recombinant vaccines. All of them require purification steps and the formulations require the production of adjuvants, preservatives and stabilizers. Such steps make production difficult, consume time and money.
Likewise, in the case of injectable vaccines, specialized personnel, conservation, application time and a situation of stress for the birds or rupture of the eggs are required, in the case of having automatic egg injectors.
On the other hand, “this prototype constitutes a novel production system entirely developed in a non-pathogenic bacteria that is safe for direct consumption by birds, which guarantees their immunization at a global level,” he maintains. The professor of the UNR Food Biotechnology program assures that the production process is simple and there are industrial plants capable of producing these microorganisms in the country.
Then, the microorganisms must be induced so as to load them with the antigen and the adjuvant and administered in formulations for poultry feeds. Eventually, they can be dosed in other forms such as spray, thick drop or in ovo injection. Thus, “the simplicity of development, easy administration, conservation and reduction in production costs are also novel data with respect to other vaccine systems present on the market,” he highlights.
The advantage of vaccinating birds is currently under discussion in both Europe and the United States. In other words, advancing in a national development of the production of medicines of this type is of high interest.
Advantages of the oral vaccine
Among the benefits of a vaccine against avian flu, the researcher mentions the prevention of the spread of the virus in the poultry industry with a reduction in animal losses (slaughter and mortality of birds) and losses caused by destruction of food (eggs and meat ).
In addition, it allows the control of the spread of the virus between farms (productive damage) and the reduction of wild reservoirs (environmental damage), thus reducing the spread and number of outbreaks of avian flu. Finally, lower risks of transmission to workers and its impact on public health, reducing a possible transfer to the general population.
The fact that this oral vaccine can be administered by direct ingestion or mixed with food or water simplifies the process compared to injectable vaccines: it does not require a needle or trained personnel, reducing the damage caused by these interventions, such as breaking eggs. , injuries or infections and eliminates stress and negative changes in animal welfare resulting from needle intervention.
Likewise, it reduces time consumption, taking into account the number of birds present on a commercial farm and is less expensive than an automatic egg injector for medium or small production farms.
“The efficacy and safety of an oral vaccine offers significant operational benefits in terms of ease of administration, broad coverage, reduction of bird stress, reduced time and cost of application, reducing the risk of injuries and adverse reactions,” he maintains.
On the other hand, this type of vaccine prototype would facilitate transportation and logistics conditions in different parts of the world where the development of the poultry industry is important for food production.
“Taking into account the possibility of transmission of this type of virus to mammals and the population in general, having an advanced and easily scalable system in the event of a health emergency is a priority for disease control organizations,” he explains. Magni to Rosario/12.
It also highlights that this platform is versatile, since it can be applied to different variants of the virus. And it is not only applicable to chickens, but also to other domestic animals and potentially humans.
2023-11-19 03:00:30
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