Brief Communications
Nature 442, 757 (17 August 2006) | doi:10.1038/442757a; Received 31 March 2006; Accepted 12 July 2006; Published online 16 August 2006
Silent spread of H5N1 in vaccinated poultry
Nicholas J. Savill1, Suzanne G. St Rose1, Matthew J. Keeling2 and Mark E. J. Woolhouse1
International debate on the merits of vaccinating poultry against the H5N1 influenza A virus1, 2, 3 has raised concerns about the possibility of an increased risk of between-flock transmission before outbreaks are detected4. Here we show that this 'silent spread' can occur because of incomplete protection at the flock level, even if a vaccine is effective in individual birds. The use of unvaccinated sentinels can mitigate, although not completely eliminate, the problem.
- Centre for Infectious Diseases, University of Edinburgh, Ashworth Laboratories, The King's Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK
- Mathematics Institute and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
Correspondence to: Nicholas J. Savill1 Email: nick.savill@ed.ac.uk
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