A New Jersey pharmaceutical company has received a “conditional license” for its bird flu vaccine for use in chickens.
The vaccine, developed by Zoetis, targets the H5N2 subtype of avian influenza, which has been found in both poultry and humans, according to a press release from the company.
The license was granted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB), the same source stated.
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More than 150 million birds in the U.S. have been affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza since February 2022, according to the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
“When a new strain of HPAI was identified in the U.S. in early 2022, our scientists immediately began work to update our previous avian influenza vaccine,” said Mahesh Kumar, Ph.D., senior vice president, global biologics research and development at Zoetis, in the release.
The company first worked on developing bird flu vaccines in 2001 and 2002 amid outbreaks among flocks in Southeast Asia, Kumar noted.
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Zoetis received a conditional license in 2016 for its H5N1 vaccine, which was used to help protect California condors, according to the company.
When contacted by Fox News Digital, a Zoetis spokesperson said the vaccine is not commercially available at this time.
“The decision to vaccinate commercial poultry flocks rests solely with national regulatory authorities in consultation with their local poultry sector,” the spokesperson said.
Jacob Glanville, CEO and president of biotechnology company Centivax in San Francisco, noted that Zoetis’ bird flu vaccine is intended for veterinary use on bird flocks.
“This is extremely good news, as vaccination of our animal populations is the best method of suppressing the H5N1 global outbreak and protecting the economic interest of farmers,” he told Fox News Digital.
“So far, our method has been culling, or killing, all animals in a farm. This clearly hasn’t worked well enough and has been terribly disruptive to farmers’ businesses and the food supply,” he went on.
“Now, we need the same for cows and cats.”
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One limitation is that this H5N2 vaccine from Zoetis is “heavily mismatched” to the circulating strain, Glanville cautioned.
“Now, we need the same for cows and cats.”
“This could result in immune escape and of survival but perpetuation of transmission.”
In the U.S., there have been a total of 68 cases of human bird flu, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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Fox News Digital reached out to the USDA for comment.
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