A vaccine will be rolled out to protect Australia's native species from the deadly H5N1 bird flu, with a focus on birds in captivity.
A vaccine will be rolled out to protect Australia's native species from the deadly H5N1 bird flu, with a focus on birds in captivity.
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neutronbumblebee@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 17d
The focus is on captive birds because the current vaccine is designed for chickens and given in two doses. Maybe knowing that it was coming for this long, a single dose alternative for wild birds could have been developed since outbreaks increased in 2020. Warnings were given but apparently that's not feasible yet.. mRNA vaccines for birds are only just exiting 3rd trial stage but no vaccines are available for any native marsupials so far. Hopefully H5N1 won't jump into any new mammals or marsupials and mutate as it's well known as a potential candidate for a new human pandemic. With any luck some of the planned defenses will be ready in time. https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2026-06-24/native-marsupials-bird-flu-risk/106537852 - Experts are concerned about the Tasmanian devil in particular.