Scientists develop new flu vaccines for dogs.

Scientists develop new flu vaccines for dogs.Scientists at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry have developed, for the first time, two new vaccines for canine influenza.Dogs that have been infected with multiple influenza viruses have the potential to act as "mixing vessels" and generate new flu strains that could infect people. Today, veterinarians use vaccines that include inactivated or killed flu virus, but experts say they provide short-term, limited protection. Scientists created two "live-attenuated" vaccines against H3N8 canine influenza virus, which is currently circulating in dogs in the U.S. Past research shows that live-attenuated vaccines, made from live flu virus that is dampened down so that it doesn't cause the flu, provide better immune responses and longer periods of protection. The study, published in the Journal of Virology, found the live vaccine was safe and able to induce better immune protection against H3N8 canine influenza virus in mice and dog tracheal cells than a commercially available inactivated vaccine.