US shields itself by ordering more Bird flu vaccines

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt announced on Monday that the U.S. health authorities are purchasing H5N1 flu vaccine worth $200 million in order to stockpile it to be used at the onset of an influenza pandemic.

The U.S department of Health and Human services has asked three major drug companies- Sanofi Pasteur, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline, to produce 5.3 million, 90-microgram doses of vaccine intended to provide a shield against the H5N1 influenza virus strain.

The deals incorporated a $US117.9 million contract with Sanofi Pasteur for 3.7 million doses; the other two companies, Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline are contracted to produce 800,000 doses, for $US40.95 million and $US40.6 million respectively.

Dr. Bruce Gellin, director of the U.S. National Vaccine Program Office, informed that the deal will instruct the three companies to produce vaccines to provide a shield from the two major sub groups of the H5N1 virus’s presently circulating.

It is also known that the stockpile would be enough to immunize 2.7 million people at the outburst of a flu pandemic.

"Having a stockpile of influenza vaccine that may offer protection against the H5N1 virus is an important part of our pandemic influenza preparedness plan," Health Secretary Mike Leavitt said.

"These contracts are a continuation of our aggressive multi-pronged approach to a potentially critical public health challenge."

The U.S. health authorities have already stored 5.9 million doses and the new order will build on the existing stockpile. The US is looking to build up adequate stores of the vaccine against the H5N1 avian influenza strain to immunize about 20 million people at the threat of an extensive outburst.

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1, also known as A(H5N1) or H5N1, is a subtype of the Influenza A virus that can cause sickness in humans and many other animal species. The virus has affected birds all over, but it is more widespread in Southeast Asia.

Since the outbreak of the disease, tens of millions of birds have been culled in order to stem its spread.

H5N1 is an avian disease and no evidence has been found so far which shows that the disease can spread from human to human or airborne transmission. In all the cases and fatalities reported worldwide, those infected with the virus had extensive physical contact with infected birds.

The H5N1 virus was first erupted in poultry flocks in Asia in 2003 and has killed more than 150 people worldwide.

Robert Webster, far famous virologist, published an article in 2003, titled "The world is teetering on the edge of a pandemic that could kill a large fraction of the human population" in ‘American Scientist’. He said that the disease would be a major world threat if it won’t be eradicated from the roots.

David Nabarro, the newly designated Senior United Nations System Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza, warned in 2005 that an eruption of avian influenza could kill anywhere between 5 million to 150 million people.

The current H5N1 strains are significantly different and more pathogenic from the previous strains.

In the first two months of 2006, the virus spread to migratory and wild birds of Africa and Europe. In June 2006, WHO predicted a rise in human deaths due to H5N1 during late 2006. An increased numbers of bird deaths were recorded in Cambodia, China, Laos, Nigeria, and Thailand in July and August 2006, while Indonesia remained the centre of all the threats.

Scientists fear the virus could transform so that it could pass from human to human and set off a deadly pandemic. In order to deal with this, several countries have decided to stockpile vaccine against H5N1.