Fast track vaccine trials offering hope for Scottish producers amid bird flu outbreak

By Colin Ley

October 4 2022, 5:00 pm

GRIM STATISTIC: Labour said figures show the equivalent of 17,000 birds died or were culled every day. Image: SRUC

Bird flu vaccine trials are offering a glimmer of hope for Scottish producers.

The urgent search for effective vaccinations has intensified with the launch of three new trials in the Netherlands giving poultry producers throughout Europe and the UK the prospect of freedom for future infections.

Developed by three different pharmaceutical companies, they are being tested on laying hens by researchers at Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (WBVR).

The new trials will take about three months to complete with the hope that final results may be available by the second half of December.

Many British producers currently remained trapped in a bird flu infection nightmare with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) recently stating the UK has faced its “largest ever outbreak” of avian influenza this year with over 150 cases confirmed across the country since late October 2021.

With new outbreaks still being reported, avian influenza prevention zones (AIPZ) for poultry and captive birds are in place in Devon, Cornwall, Suffolk, Norfolk and parts of Somerset and Essex, all designed to help stop the spread of the infection.

Call for bird flu vaccine getting louder

Producers in Scotland have suffered along with other parts of the UK with Robert Chapman, managing director of Farmlay Eggs at Strichen, telling The Press and Journal in March that having to carry out a cull of almost 100,000 birds was similar to the experiences of cattle and sheep farmers during past foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreaks.

Scotland has also seen outbreaks in the past 12 months in Angus, Dumfries and Galloway, Aberdeenshire, North Ayrshire, Shetland and Orkney.

Dutch researcher Nancy Beerens said that more information about the three trial vaccines will be required before they can be applied in the field, adding that the trials programme will test the effect of the vaccines on clinical signs of the disease, alongside assessing their effectiveness in preventing the spread of the virus.

Thousands of birds, like this gannet at Balmedie Beach in Aberdeenshire, have died amid a major outbreak of bird flu. Image: Paul Glendell

She also said that the call for a vaccine in the battle against bird flu is getting louder.

“Previously, our summers were free of bird flu infections,” said Ms Beerens. “This year, for the first time ever, the virus didn’t leave with the migrating birds during springtime.

“Instead, the virus was able to infect birds which stayed in our country during summer.

“This means the virus is still spreading via bird droppings from infected birds and therefore poultry farms were still infected.”

The fact that APHA’s most recent listing of UK outbreaks includes infections on farms in Norfolk and Suffolk running right through to last Saturday, suggests the same summer carryover of infection is true for the UK as well.