Pirbright scientists recently developed a potential bird flu vaccine that offered better protection to chickens. This vaccine was easier and less costly to produce than traditional flu vaccines.
Research by Pirbright scientists reveals that the chicken immune response to Marek’s disease virus (MDV) differs depending on the genetic makeup of infected birds, with some chickens being more resistant to disease than others.
Dr Melanie Nicholls is a postdoctoral scientist at The Pirbright Institute working in the Philip Mellor Insectary (PMI), a specialist science facility which houses exotic and endemic (native to the UK) insects for use in research on vector-borne viruses. Six bio secure laboratories are used to rear and maintain the insects, which include mosquitoes, biting midges, stable flies and moths.
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