Vaccination can strategically support the protection of poultry against highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) : Group of international scientist review options of surveillance-flanked HPAI vaccination

Isle of Riems, 31. July 2023. The highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) of the subtype H5 has progressed from sporadic seasonal occurrences to a continuous and nearly global panzootic in wild birds. This raises HPAIV incursion pressure into poultry holdings, as well as the risks of secondary spread and human exposure at the poultry-human interface. Vaccination as an additional layer of protection of poultry holdings using appropriately matched vaccines aims at reducing clinical sequelae of HPAIV infection, disrupting HPAIV transmission, curtailing economic losses and animal welfare problems and cutting exposure risks of zoonotic HPAIV at the avian-human interface. A group of international scientists outlines how vaccination with zero-tolerance for infection can be achieved by usefully supplementing multiple layers of appropriate surveillance.