The Butantan Institute, in São Paulo, has begun to develop a vaccine against avian flu. According to the institute, the tests are being carried out with vaccine strains that were provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the first batch is ready for the start of pre-clinical tests, that is, laboratory tests.
On Monday (22), the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Fávaro, declared a state of zoosanitary emergency throughout the national territory due to the detection of infection by the H5N1 avian influenza virus in wild birds in Brazil.
Butantan reported that the vaccine began to be developed due to concerns that it could become a new pandemic. “The avian flu has the potential to cause a new pandemic, hence the mobilization of the institution, which began in January of this year”, said the institute, in a note.
The process of developing a vaccine is time consuming and done in several stages. After the stage of carrying out pre-clinical tests, which will demonstrate the safety and potential of the vaccine, clinical tests on humans are carried out, which is the longest stage.
In the clinical phase, which requires authorization from the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) to be carried out, the safety, efficiency and effectiveness of the vaccine are analyzed. If the vaccine performs well in the clinical phase, it is submitted to Anvisa for registration and only then can it be applied to the population.
Avian influenza (H1N5), also known as bird flu, is a highly contagious viral illness. The transmission of the disease occurs through contact with sick birds, living or dead. The virus does not easily infect humans, but the recent rise in cases has health authorities around the world on high alert.
According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), infections of this virus in humans have been uncommon. But whenever the avian flu virus circulates among birds, as the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture warned last week when it confirmed the first cases of avian flu in animals in the country, there is a risk of sporadic human cases.
In humans, avian flu can be severe, with a high mortality rate. Also according to the Ministry of Health, transmission from person to person is not sustained, that is, for now, the virus does not spread easily from person to person.
This weekend, the Ministry of Health dismissed the suspicion of avian flu that would have affected an employee at Parque da Fazendinha, in Espírito Santo. A bird with the disease was found at the site.
Editing: Aline Leal
Source: CNN Brasil
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