From Our Partners
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
News on Pathogens and Preparedness
Global Biodefense
  • Featured
  • COVID-19
  • Funding
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • Events
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • COVID-19
  • Funding
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • Events
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
Global Biodefense
No Result
View All Result
Home Defense + Military

Army Study: DNA Vaccine and Duck Eggs Protect Against Hantavirus Disease

by Global Biodefense Staff
May 23, 2012

Army scientists and industry collaborators have successfully protected laboratory animals from lethal hantavirus disease using a novel approach that combines DNA vaccines and duck eggs. The work appears in a recent edition of the online scientific journal PLoS ONE, published by the Public Library of Science.

According to first author Jay W. Hooper of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), this is the first time that the DNA vaccine/duck egg system has been shown to produce an antiviral product capable of protecting against hantavirus disease.

Hantavirus causes a condition known as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), which has a case fatality rate of 35-40 percent. Currently there are no vaccines, prophylactics, or therapeutics to prevent ortreat this highly pathogenic disease.

In this study, the research team used a hamster model of Andes virus, which is the predominant cause of HPS in South America and the only hantavirus known to be transmitted person-to-person. Infection of Syrian hamsters with Andes virus, as demonstrated in earlier studies at USAMRIID, results in a disease that closely mimics human HPS in incubation time, symptoms of respiratory distress, and disease pathology. This makes it an ideal system for evaluating the feasibility of postexposure protection strategies.

Collaborating with Aldevron of Fargo, N.D. and the Universidad del Desarrollo in Santiago, Chile, Hooper and his team first evaluated a natural product, human polyclonal antibody, which was obtained as fresh frozen plasma (FFP) from a patient who survived HPS. Their results indicate that FFP shows promise as a post-exposure preventive treatment for HPS.

The team then vaccinated ducks with a DNA vaccine against Andes virus. This vaccine, initially developed and tested at USAMRIID, uses genetic material, or DNA, that encodes aspecific hantavirus gene to elicit an immune response in the recipient.

Next, they purified an antibody called IgY from the yolks of the duck eggs. This purified IgY, as well as a similar version produced in duck eggs, was capable of neutralizing Andes virus when tested in cell culture. More importantly, it also protected Syrian hamsters from lethal HPS—even when administered as a single injection several days after the hamsters had been exposed to a lethal dose of virus.

The work demonstrates the feasibility of using DNA vaccine technology, coupled with the 
duck/egg system, to manufacture a product that could supplement or replace FFP. Furthermore, the new approach can be scaled as needed and eliminates the necessity of using blood products from HPS survivors, which may be in limited supply.
 
According to Hooper, another advantage of this technique is that duck IgY naturally loses 
a part of the antibody that has been associated with “serum sickness” when animal antibodies have been used in humans, making the product potentially less reactogenic.
 
“This antiviral product, if fully developed and manufactured, has the potential to be used 
in future outbreak situations,” Hooper said. “It also could be used to treat health care workers and others who have close contact with HPS patients.”
 
In addition, the authors suggest, the flexibility of the DNA vaccine/duck egg system could 
be applied to the production of antibodies against other infectious agents and toxins.
 
Source: USAMRIID Press Release
From Our Partners
Tags: Animal ModelsAntiviralsUSAMRIIDVaccines

Related Posts

UK Health Security Agency Widens Monkeypox Vaccine Umbrella for Outbreak Control
Medical Countermeasures

UK Health Security Agency Widens Monkeypox Vaccine Umbrella for Outbreak Control

June 21, 2022
Biodefense Industry News
Industry News

Tonix Pharmaceuticals Opens Advanced Development Center for Vaccine Programs

June 20, 2022
Monkeypox Cases Prompt Additional Contracts for Bavarian Nordic Vaccine
Medical Countermeasures

Monkeypox Cases Prompt Additional Contracts for Bavarian Nordic Vaccine

May 30, 2022
Novavax Missed Its Global Moonshot but Is Angling to Win Over mRNA Defectors
Industry News

Novavax Missed Its Global Moonshot but Is Angling to Win Over mRNA Defectors

May 26, 2022
Load More

Latest News

Poliovirus Detected in London Sewage: Response Measures Emphasize Wastewater Surveillance and Vaccination Gaps

Poliovirus Detected in London Sewage: Response Measures Emphasize Wastewater Surveillance and Vaccination Gaps

June 22, 2022
Monkeypox Diagnostics: CDC Authorizes Five Commercial Lab Companies

Monkeypox Diagnostics: CDC Authorizes Five Commercial Lab Companies

June 22, 2022
UK Health Security Agency Widens Monkeypox Vaccine Umbrella for Outbreak Control

UK Health Security Agency Widens Monkeypox Vaccine Umbrella for Outbreak Control

June 21, 2022
Influenza Research

New Way to Identify Influenza A Virus Lights Up When Specific Virus Targets are Present

June 20, 2022

Subscribe

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Subscribe

© 2022 Stemar Media Group LLC

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • COVID-19
  • Funding
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • Events
  • Subscribe

© 2022 Stemar Media Group LLC