Flu blueprints in public database

Flu blueprints in public database



Feb 2007 - The genetic 
blueprints of more than 2,000 human and avian influenza 
viruses taken from samples around the world now are available 
in a public database to scientists everywhere for use in 
developing new vaccines and therapies. 
The Influenza Genome Sequencing Project, began in 2004, is 
funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious 
Diseases, NIAID, one of the National Institutes of Health. 
"This information will help scientists understand how 
influenza viruses evolve and spread," NIH Director Dr. Elias 
Zerhouni said Wednesday, "and it will aid in the development 
of new flu vaccines, therapies and diagnostics." 
Dr. Elias Zerhouni is director of the National Institutes of 
Health. 
The project has been carried out at the Microbial Sequencing 
Center, managed by The Institute for Genomic Research, TIGR, 
of Rockville, Maryland. 
The Center will sequence more flu strains and samples and make 
all sequence data freely available to the scientific community 
and the public through GenBank. 
The Internet accessible database of genetic sequences is 
maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology 
Information at NIH's National Library of Medicine, another 
major contributor to the project. 
Collaborators on the project include the U.S. Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention; the World Organization for 
Animal Health/Food and Agriculture Organization Reference 
Laboratory for Newcastle Disease and Avian Influenza in 
Padova, Italy; and Canterbury Health Laboratories in 
Christchurch, New Zealand. 
“Scientists around the world can use the sequence data to 
compare different strains of the virus, identify the genetic 
factors that determine their virulence, and look for new 
therapeutic, vaccine and diagnostic targets,” says NIAID 
Director Anthony Fauci, M.D. 
The project is directed by David Spiro, Ph.D., and Claire 
Fraser, Ph.D., at TIGR and Elodie Ghedin, Ph.D., at the 
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. 
Dr. Elodie Ghedin sits in front of the image of an influenza 
genome. 
While deciphering genetic code was once a lengthy and 
laborious process, automated technology now allows for rapid, 
large-scale genomic sequencing. 
Recently, growing sequencing capacity has enabled the 
production rate to increase to more than 200 viral genomes per 
month. 
Seasonal influenza is a major public health concern in the 
United States, accounting for approximately 36,000 deaths and 
200,000 hospitalizations each year. 
Globally, influenza results in an estimated 250,000 to half a 
million deaths annually. 
Seasonal flu shots are updated every year to target the latest 
strains in circulation. Developing such vaccines is 
challenging, however, because the influenza virus is prone to 
high mutation rates when it replicates, and these mutations 
can alter the virus enough that vaccines against one strain 
may not protect against another strain. 
An even greater concern is the potential for an influenza 
pandemic caused by the emergence of a new, highly lethal virus 
strain that is easily transmitted from person to person. 
Health experts worry that the H5N1 viral strain of avian 
influenza that has caused ... human deaths in ... countries as 
well as the deaths of hundreds of millions of poultry might 
mutate into a virus that easily spreads from human to human. 
At the same time, progress is being made in developing a 
vaccine against the H5N1 virus. 
Last week, the World Health Organization, WHO, said 16 
manufacturers from 10 countries are developing prototype 
pandemic influenza vaccines to immunize humans against H5N1 
avian influenza virus. Five of them are also involved in the 
development of vaccines against other avian viruses (H9N2, 
H5N2, and H5N3). 
At present, more then 40 clinical trials have been completed 
or are ongoing. Most of them have focused on healthy adults. 
Some companies, after completing safety analyses in adults, 
have initiated clinical trials in the elderly and in children. 
All vaccines were safe and well tolerated in all age groups 
tested. 
For the first time, results presented at a meeting February 16 
at the WHO headquarters in Geneva have convincingly 
demonstrated that vaccination with newly developed avian 
influenza vaccines can bring about a potentially protective 
immune response against strains of H5N1 virus found in a 
variety of locations. 
Some of the vaccines work with low doses of antigen, which 
means that significantly more vaccine doses can be available 
in case of a pandemic. 
In spite of the encouraging progress, WHO stresses that the 
world still lacks the manufacturing capacity to meet potential 
global pandemic influenza vaccine demand. Current capacity is 
estimated at less than 400 million doses per year of trivalent 
seasonal influenza vaccine. 
In response to this challenge, WHO launched in 2006 the Global 
pandemic influenza action plan to increase vaccine supply, a 
US$10 billion effort over 10 years. 
One of its aims is to enable developing countries to establish 
their own influenza vaccine production facilities through 
transfer of technology, providing them with the most 
sustainable and reliable response to the threat of pandemic 
influenza. 
WHO is currently working with several vaccine producers, 
mainly in developing countries affected by H5N1, to facilitate 
establishment of in-country influenza vaccine production. 

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