Universities Should Be Involved, Need Challenge Tests For Vaccines

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – University research units, both domestic and foreign, including the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), should be involved in Avian Influenza mapping in Indonesia. dr Mangku Sitepu, DVM, Avian Influenza critic, on Friday (9/1) in Jakarta, stated “In consideration of the limited capacity of government laboratories, AI mapping should involve university research units, both domestic and foreign, also including the World Animal Health Organization.”
“Collaboration with foreign bodies is necessary to accelerate the development of avian influenza research and exchange information of the virus in poultry. We can not exclude ourselves from the international society because this is everybody’s problem,” said Mangku.

“The veterinary profession must also be actively involved in surveillance of avian influenza in poultry,” he added. In AI management in Indonesia so far, veterinarians haven’t been much involved, even though veterinarians are the ones with the medical authority to address avian influenza in poultry.
Previously, several parties have urged of development and research of poultry AI vaccines which match the virus strains in Indonesia. This must be supported with mapping of AI viruses in Indonesia.
“If vaccines don’t match, they would be less effective,” he said. These issues arose following vaccination refusal from the Indonesian Native Chicken Farmer Association (Himpuli).
Currently, a number of research units from universities and multinational vaccine producers are developing recombinant avian influenza vaccines through genetic engineering. “We need to check them one by one, which one matches the most to produce immunity in birds,” said Mangku. He added that avian influenza vaccination should be followed with challenge tests to determine how effective the vaccines are in developing immunity against AI viruses. 
A similar statement was said by CA Nidom, DVM, from the Tropical Disease Diagnostic Center (TDDC) of Airlangga University. Without challenge tests, it would be difficult to determine the effectiveness of vaccines and the possibility of virus mutation. (EVY)
Source : Kompas