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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

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Silent spread of H5N1 in vaccinated poultry

Nicholas J. Savill1, Suzanne G. St Rose1, Matthew J. Keeling2 & Mark E. J. Woolhouse1

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A chink in the protection of a caged flock can dramatically increase the chances of a flu outbreak.

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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.

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