Press releases

Researchers at Pirbright have developed a pig respiratory coronavirus (PRCV) model which will help to understand how coronaviruses cause disease and how the immune system responds to them.

Human coronaviruses such as Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are spread from animals to people, these are known as zoonotic viruses. Research to understand coronaviruses and how to control and prevent their spread has the potential to benefit human and animal health.

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.

• Peste des petits ruminants virus causes severe disease in small ruminants such as goats and sheep, especially in Africa, Asia and the Middle East
• There is a global eradication programme aimed at eradicating the disease by 2030, however this cannot be achieved in time without a suitable vaccine that could differentiate between vaccinated and infected animals

• The new vaccine protects chickens against signs of disease and reduces the level of virus that they can spread
• Rapid antibody responses can be seen as early as six days after vaccination
• The vaccine is made in laboratory cultures of insect cells, making it easier and less costly to produce than the traditional flu vaccines made in chicken eggs.