Corona Virus: Germany's Robert Koch Institute withdraws optimistic vaccine claim.

Germany's top institute for infectious diseases pulled its own paper which claimed a vaccine could be available this fall. The Robert Koch Institute said the document was posted in error and removed it from its website.

Experimental vaccine to be used against Ebola outbreak in the DRC.

Experimental vaccine to be used against Ebola outbreak in the DRC.A campaign to vaccinate people at risk of developing Ebola in the latest outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could begin by the end of this week, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director ofthe World Health Organization. Tedros said the government of the DRC has formally asked to use an experimental vaccine being developed by Merck. The WHO has a stockpile of 4,300 doses of the vaccine in Geneva; the company also has 300,000 doses of the vaccine stockpiled in the United States. Merck has given its permission for the vaccine to be used in this outbreak.

DISTEMPER VIRUS AND TIGERS.

Scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, Cornell and the University of Glasgow , from their research noted that tigers, lions and other wild carnivores, already under threat from poaching and habitat loss, are falling victim to Canine distemper, and could soon drive endangered populations to extinction. Canine distemper virus strikes wild carnivores of all stripes, including Amur tigers, -- also called Siberian tigers -- which roam the Russian Far East in ever-dwindling numbers.The team is urging a swift action to address the crisis by developing control measures for the virus, such as delivering a vaccine that is safe for these animals. They also suggest renaming canine distemper virus to reflect the wide range of animals that can carry the virus and suffer from the disease. These small endangered populations of carnivores face a lot of threats, but distemper can be the major factor that determines their survival. Studies show that in many cases, wild carnivores are not contracting the distemper virus directly from domestic dogs, but they are getting it from other wild animals that act as intermediaries. This makes controlling the virus exceedingly difficult, and efforts to vaccinate dogs or other wild carnivores may not offer protection for tigers or other large cats. The current distemper vaccines haven't been thoroughly tested in the wild species that need protection. While many vaccines appear to be safe, some may not be effective in generating long-lived immune defenses, The group discussed ways to test the safety and efficacy of distemper vaccines in captive animals as well as developing innovative means of immunizing wild animals with oral or aerosol formulations planted in bait or on marking posts. Renaming the canine distemper virus may be a right step , in part because the name is not a good reflection of its host range among carnivores. The virus can affect seals, tigers, bears and more. The term "canine" can lead to management efforts that place too much emphasis on controlling the infection in dogs, when other wild animals carry the virus to infect other species. materials from Cornell university.

EBOLA VACCINE.

A study represents a crucial step in the translation of herpes virus-based Ebola virus vaccines into humans and other great apes. It shows the effectiveness of a herpes virus CMV-based vaccine against Ebola. Researchers have shown the ability of a vaccine vector based on a common herpes virus called cytomegalovirus (CMV) expressing Ebola virus glycoprotein (GP), to provide protection against Ebola virus in the experimental rhesus macaque, non-human primate (NHP) model. Demonstration of protection in the NHP model is regarded as a critical step before translation of Ebola virus vaccines into humans and other great apes. Establishing the potential for CMV-based vaccines against Ebola virus, these results are exciting from the potential insight they give into the mechanism of protection. Herpesvirus-based vaccines can theoretically be made to produce their targeted protein (in this case, Ebola virus GP) at different times following vaccination. The current CMV vaccine was designed to make the Ebola virus GP at later times. This resulted in the surprising production of high levels of antibodies against Ebola virus with no detectable Ebola-specific T cells. This immunological shift towards antibodies has never been seen before for such primate herpesvirus-based vaccines, where responses are always associated with large T cell responses and poor to no antibodies. The current study is a step forward, not only for conventional Ebola virus vaccines for use in humans, but also in the development of such 'self-disseminating vaccines' to target Ebola in great apes, and other emerging infectious diseases in their wild animal host before they fully establish themselves in humans. Papers from University of Plymouth.

TICK VACCINE FOR AFRICAN CATTLE .

Two Queensland scientists have been recruited as part of a global project to help develop a tick vaccine for the African cattle industry.The tick may be an enemy of the Australian beef industry, but the situation is even more dire in Africa.The research is part of a global project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to help the overseas cattle producers combat tick infestation. Researcher Alicja Lew-Tabor said ticks were having a significant impact on domestic beef production in Africa.Unlike Australian producers, African producers generally only supply their domestic market and Dr Lew-Tabor said ticks caused significant problems in meat and milk supply. "Most of the countries in Africa have cattle of sorts, whether it is for milk or beef production, and most of them would be in regions that are affected by cattle tick and the diseases that they carry," Dr Lew-Tabor said."Ticks are resistant to a lot of the drugs that they use to put on the cattle; they become resistant to them in time."That chemical resistance was the very reason why Dr Lew-Tabor and fellow researcher Manuel Rodriguez-Valle were selected to join the worldwide project. For five years, they have worked on the development of many vaccine strains which could have potential in Africa.They started with 300 possibilities and have selected 25 vaccines which could be successful in controlling the tick infestation.Dr Rodriguez-Valle said the work was tedious, but the results looked good."We have two candidates that look very interesting [and] we will have results very quickly, at the end of February; we are very confident in them," he said.To control the results, the cattle are kept isolated in pens.The goal is to try to reduce the number of ticks per animal by 70 per cent. We infect the animals with around 5,000 tick larvae and wait until the ticks drop off each animal, then we collect the tick, weigh it and analyse the reduction in the number of ticks," Dr Rodriguez-Valle said.The vaccines inject antigens into the cattle, creating antibodies to attack the ticks."We got 80 per cent protection in a trial that we did in Brazil but what they [Gates Foundation] has wanted us to do is pull that mixture apart and work out what the most active components are," Dr Lew-Tabor said.The vaccine is expected to be ready to use within five years, and Dr Lew-Tabor said there could be benefits for Australian beef producers too."They will be able to bring the more susceptible breeds into regions where they don't have those breeds," she said. source; ABC NEWS.

MERS VACCINE !!!

An effective vaccine to protect against the Mers virus is a step closer,european scientists genetically modified a version of the smallpox vaccine to display Mers virus protein on its surface. The vaccine was able to protect camels - the animal reservoir for the virus - from developing Mers virus symptoms. Experts hope the vaccine might stop the virus spreading in camels and may also protect humans at risk from infection. Infections have been reported in 26 countries around the world with the outbreak epi-centre located in the Arabian Peninsula.There are no treatments for Mers but scientists are trying to develop an effective vaccine. One such scientist is Prof Bart Haagmans, who is based at the Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands. He has been busy developing and testing vaccines in camels. A team of scientists drawn from the Netherlands, Spain and Germany, genetically engineered a pox virus called Modified Vaccinia Ankara -MVA - to display Mers virus spike protein on its surface. MVA, related to the virus used to eradicate smallpox, was used to eradicate smallpox and is currently being used to develop vaccines to a variety of viruses like influenza, Ebola and hepatitis C. Importantly it can produce antibodies and killer cells.The Mers spike protein is thought to be a major target for the immune response. The team hoped that by cloaking MVA with this spike they would train the immune system to recognize and kill Mers. The team took the engineered MVA, sprayed it up the noses of camels and injected it into their muscle, and then four weeks later they repeated the vaccination again. When the team exposed the vaccinated animals to the Mers virus the camels developed very mild symptoms. Crucially they didn't develop a runny nose and the amount of virus they produced was very low. Camels that hadn't received the vaccine produced very large amounts of virus and suffered a very runny nose. This indicates that even though the vaccine didn't prevent infection it did reduce the amount of virus that the vaccinated camels produced. story credit BBC news.

AGRICULTURE : A NEW APPROACH.

The raising of birds can be a tedious task, or outright stressful if you dont know how to raise birds.The myth in the chain can be broken with proper education and hands-on work through with professionals. There are various methods of investing in the poultry value chain, these are direct and indirect investment.The common mode of investment here is the direct type; here the investors are involved in various stages of production that resonant with them. Agriculture The indirect phase,the investors pay a certain amount of money depending on level of investment such as gold,bronze and diamond.The investors partners with agri investors,that raise the birds,sell and give profit to the investor. This is an easy way of investing in the value chain,just pay required amount according to level of participation.Its with so much excitement that i announce the participation of a foreign agri-investment company to the investors forum.The company are coming down with all their expertise ,partnering with farmers to ensure food security.I was amazed at their track records, fast delivery,monitoring of progress of business online, broilers the Ross type, ready for market at 2.6kg at 6 weeks,and the investment is safe and covered by agreements backed by law. This is a new approach to the poultry value chain, another MDGS goal realized by partnering with foreign bodies for growth and development. Yes, you can be a silent partner in the poultry value chain and still make profit. The march towards food security and sustainability is on,and the call for investors to the value chain is on-going.The players in this value chain have been highlighted and our network increasing daily. These group of investors bring all the players of the chain on a platform; a central data pool. This platform will be multifaceted,it will bring all the aspects of the chain together,providing a tracking and tracing model,which will be a planning tool,marketing tool and learning platform. How will it work?? the platform will have data of those involved in the various aspect of the chain,their location, the aspect of production they are involved in and the population of the birds. This information will give data on vaccination/medication, so that at any point in time the health status of various sets of birds can be accessed. The platform will be a marketing tool,where manufacturers of drugs,feed,farm tools can reach out to customers.The platform will be a vital tool for planning,because you know the number of birds in chain,the vaccines can be acquired, medications/vitamins can be sourced and distributed.Each chain operator will have a code,this will allow tracing,tracking and tailored medical interventions. The platform will grant open access to all strata of the chain; linking all aspects together so that customers can access all sale information on the site.Training and learning will be available on site,with hand outs,webinars and interactive forum;where producers can be tutored and new interested producers can be trained. The platform will make access about the chain easy,the platform will also be a money market where goods and services can be accessed and paid for by using your phone.This platform will provide an onsite information about the value chain. Partnership with local and international companies for exchange of technology will be easy using this inter phase.The value change is broad and a platform for bringing all investors together is so vital to the success.

AVIAN INFLUENZA TODAY.

The bird flu virus is still very much around,do not let down your guard.Stop the virus now..................The U.S.D.A has developed a vaccine to protect poultry from new strain H5N2 but dont have plans to make vaccine commercial.