In practice, most vaccination programs against the H9N2 variant of avian influenza appear to be ineffective in poultry. This is the conclusion of doctoral student Xue Pan after the research with which he hopes to obtain his doctorate at Wageningen University & Research (WUR) next Wednesday.
While other virus strains plague Dutch poultry farming, the H9N2 avian influenza virus is the most common and most harmful low pathogenic avian influenza virus in the world. The virus not only harms livestock farming, but also poses a huge public health challenge, according to WUR. According to Pan, vaccination is the most important and effective strategy to control this virus.
However, this is still not enough. This was why the researcher found out what factors can disrupt the effectiveness of this vaccine. He also looked at ideas for improving the effectiveness of this vaccine and ways to increase the effectiveness of the vaccine.
“Vaccination is not the solution”
Vaccination is not the only solution to fight bird flu, but vaccination is like a safe and effective blanket that prevents an outbreak. Biosecurity (hygiene) is the most effective way to prevent avian influenza from entering barns. Poultry veterinarian Rogier van Leeuwen of the pharmaceutical company Ceva told Pluimveeweb.nl in December.
