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Nipah Vaccine Shows Promise
Researchers in Australia have been testing a vaccine for the animal disease Nipah, which scientists say could be used as a biological weapon, Reuters reported yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 21, 2005). Nipah killed more than 100 people and 1 million pigs in Malaysia in 1999, according to Reuters. The vaccine is also effective against the closely related Hendra virus, which killed two Australians in 1994. Fruit bats carry both viruses, which can move quickly from animals to humans. Researchers at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation said that tests indicate the new vaccines might be effective against the viruses. “It worked far better than we expected,” said researcher Bruce Mungall. “It could be used for both human and animals but we are really focused on saving human lives in risk populations ... such as abattoir workers with the Nipah virus.” Mungall added that tests have shown that animals vaccinated with a protein component readied from the virus were protected against Nipah and Hendra. Two additional years of work and collaboration with researchers backed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health are needed to develop the vaccine, Mungall said (Reuters/Yahoo!News, Feb. 28).
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