|
Bird flu is monkey business
29/07/2006 16:52 - (SA)
Tokyo - A team of Japanese reseachers plans to use monkeys to test the effectiveness of a vaccine against the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus.
Researchers from Hokkaido University and the Shiga University of Medical Science would carry out the tests on long-tailed macaques, also known as crab-eating monkeys, reported Kyodo News on Saturday.
The results are expected in about six months.
Researchers said the experiment could shed light on aspects of the infection mechanism of the viral strain, and pave the way for a human vaccine.
"The highly virulent H5N1 strain virus could kill mice and chickens when they were infected with it but it remains unknown what exactly would happen for monkeys," said Kazumasa Ogasawara, a Shiga professor.
"Monkeys have immune system cells akin to those of humans, so the research should also be useful in devising measures against infection in humans."
The researchers have given the vaccine to seven monkeys so far.
Kyodo said six of the monkeys have developed a type of antibody that appeared to have removed the virus from their bodies.
In the planned test, researchers will infect those six as well as three non-vaccinated monkeys to check what symptoms appear.
|
News
