New Dual-Route Vaccine Shows Promise Against Bird Flu in Cattle and Beyond

ZISK
12 minutes ago
1 min read

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) is no longer just a poultry problem. Since its detection in U.S. dairy cattle in 2024, the virus has spread across herds, cutting milk production, driving economic losses and raising concerns about zoonotic transmission to humans. Infected cows can lose substantial milk output in a matter of weeks. The virus has been detected in milk, respiratory secretions and mammary tissue.

Despite this, there are currently no licensed influenza vaccines for cattle, leaving producers reliant on biosecurity and herd management to limit spread.

Against this backdrop, researchers at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln have developed a vaccine designed to keep pace with a virus that is both evolving and expanding its host range. Rather than targeting a single strain, the approach uses a centralized consensus H5 antigen, positioned near the center of the virus’s evolutionary tree to maximize cross-protection across variants.

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