New Foot and Mouth Disease Animal Vaccine on Fast Track
Story Highlights Global pet and animal vaccine manufacturer, Zoetis, has signed an agreement with Texas A & M to develop a new animal vaccine for foot and mouth disease (FMD). Recently agriculture groups have insisted that USDA develop FMD vaccine bank to prepare for a future FMD outbreak among livestock in the U.S., even though […]
New Herpes Vaccine Nearing Human Clinical Trials
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania recently reported that they are close to developing a herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) vaccine for humans. HSV-2 primarily causes genital herpes and is contracted through forms of sexual contact with a person who has HSV-2. An estimated 14 percent of Americans between the ages of 15 and 49 […]
USDA Pressured to Create Foot-and-Mouth Disease Vaccine Bank
Representatives from the National Pork Producers Council, the National Milk Producers Federation, the National Corn Growers Association and Iowa State University have urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to quickly establish a foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine bank.1 FMD is a contagious viral disease. The virus causes illness in cows, pigs, sheep, goats, deer, and […]
Quest for Universal Flu Vaccine Boosted by $200M NIH Grant to University of Maryland
Story Highlights National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded the University of Maryland a contract for more than $200 million to develop a universal influenza vaccine. Currently, the influenza vaccine used around the world is developed every year by drug companies based on the “best guesses” made by public health officials at the World Health […]
Kenya Launches Malaria Vaccine Pilot Program
Kenya has become the third African country, along with Ghana and Malawi, to launch a pilot program for the world’s first malaria vaccine, Mosquirix, which has been developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The vaccine is available to children from six months of age in specific locations in Kenya due to its phased pilot introduction.1 2 Malaria […]
Executive Order Creates Influenza Vaccine Task Force to Promote “National Security and Public Health”
On Sept. 19, 2019, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order, “Modernizing Influenza Vaccines in the United State to Promote National Security and Public Health.” Describing mass use of influenza vaccines “to combat seasonal flu” and influenza pandemics as “strengthening our Nation’s public health and security,” he announced the establishment of a National Influenza Vaccine […]