Universal vaccine could protect people and pets from deadly flu pandemics

According to an article published in the November issue of the Journal of General Virology, a single vaccine could be used to protect chickens, cats and humans against deadly flu pandemics. The vaccine protects birds and mammals against different flu strains and can even be given to birds while they are still in their eggs, allowing the mass vaccination of wild birds.

The emergence of bird flu has posed a major challenge to scientists designing vaccines as it can infect a number of different animals, including birds, pets and people. Now, researchers in the USA have discovered that a vaccine based on a bird flu virus could be used to protect several species against different influenza viruses.