Post-vaccination bird flu monitoring needed: Experts

International experts have provided recommendations at a two-day seminar on avian influenza vaccination to help the government design a roadmap for a better outbreak prevention strategy.

Christianne Bruschke from the World Organization for Animal Health said that inoculations should be performed with a combination of several vaccines.

The director of animal health at the Agriculture Ministry, Musny Suatmodjo, said it would be decided at the seminar which vaccines the government would use.

He added that the Agriculture Ministry has been using a low-pathogenic avian influenza vaccine and that his department had requested another 170 million doses, but the government has not yet consented. Only 80 million doses were allocated for 2008, he said.

"Backyard farming accounts for 285 million chickens and this does not include ducks and quails. This will be our concern. We want to know from the experts whether Java island had to be 100 percent vaccinated or not," he said.

Bruschke reminded the seminar that in addition to determining the best vaccine, post-vaccination monitoring is highly recommended to determine the efficacy of vaccinations and the circulation of viruses in the field.

"The monitoring should be supported with infrastructure, such as laboratories, personnel, financial resources, identification of animals and record keeping," Bruschke added.

Dennis A. Senne from the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Iowa, the U.S., said vaccination limits the selection of diagnostic tests used for surveillance.

"We must use sensitive virus or RNA detection tests when vaccination is used. Vaccination would make detection more difficult," he said.

"Differentiating infected from protected animals and sentinel birds can be used to monitor for high-pathogenic avian influenza infections in vaccinated flocks. Targeted surveillance should be used to increase the detection of infection in vaccinated populations," he added.

The head of the National Commission for Avian Influenza and Pandemic Preparedness, Bayu Krisnamurthi, said the government initially relied on physical symptoms to indicate bird flu infection, but that such signs are not as clear as previously though. He said there has been a fall in the number of animal cases, but an increase in human fatalities.

"The conditions among poultry are improving but there is a rise in human cases," he said.

Tri Satya Putri, another commission member, said that because of this shift, the government should start paying as much attention to farmers as to poultry and not be too heavily influenced by pharmaceutical companies selling vaccines for animals.



Source : www.thejakartapost.com