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Research May Beef Up Flu Shots For Chickens

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Published: December 7, 2009

Biologists may have found a protein on the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu virus that chickens’ immune systems can be better trained to attack.

University of Guelph pathobiology professor Shayan Sharif said the team’s work may not only lead to vaccines that better protect chickens, but control H5N1’s transmission from birds to humans.

Vaccines are available to protect domestic poultry from H5N1 virus, but “very little” is known about chickens’ immune response to the H5 flu.

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To that end, “we have found one of the molecular determinants of the H5N1 avian influenza virus that can induce immune responses in chickens,” Sharif said.

Sharif’s research team has identified a small peptide, a protein found on the surface of the H5 virus. The team’s work shows it’s recognized by the chicken’s T-cells, which attack the virus and also trigger production of antibodies.

The discovery marks the first time scientists have identified a T-cell epitope– a protein on a virus particle recognized by the immune system – on a flu virus found in chickens.

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