Webinar on high-pathogenicity avian influenza gives insight into the role and challenges of vaccination

In a timely webinar hosted this week by the International Veterinary Vaccinology Network (IVVN), Professor Ian Brown from the UK's Animal and Plant Health Agency spoke about high-pathogenicity avian influenza and the role of vaccination in its control.

H5 HPAI is currently causing a panzootic, with the virus spreading transcontinentally and affecting all types of poultry production systems. Serious waves of epizootics have occurred for 20 years, affecting a large part of the globe from Southeast Asia, through Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe to western and southern Africa, with recent cases also occurring in North America. There has been increased interest in the use of vaccination for controlling the disease in recent years, but many of the virus's characteristics present challenges for vaccination.

In a sign of the major interest in this topic around the world, more than 300 participants from 47 countries signed up to hear Professor Brown's talk, and the presentation was followed by a lively discussion session with lots of questions from attendees.

In his talk, Professor Brown gave an overview of the epidemiology of the clade currently dominating, 2.3.4.4b, then spoke about the needs and challenges of vaccination, including surveillance, differentiating infected from vaccinated animals, and the different technologies that can be used for vaccination. He also discussed the experiences different countries around the world have had with vaccination, and changes to vaccination strategies in the European Union.

Thanks to Professor Ian Brown for giving this webinar, to IVVN Network Management Board member Professor Brian Perry for chairing the session, and to everyone who joined us.

A recording of the webinar is available below. If you would like to be notified about future IVVN webinars, please sign up for free IVVN membership here.