NOVADUCK

The NOVADUCK project consists in the development and evaluation of new highly protective and cost-effective avian influenza live vaccines for ducks, based on live viral vectors and in line with the DIVA strategy (Differentiating Infected from Vaccinated Animals).

Viral vectors will be engineered to optimise both their immunogenicity and protective capacities. Vaccine candidates will be pre-screened for safety and immunogenicity using newly developed duck-specific immunological tools. The best vaccine candidates will be evaluated for efficacy in a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 challenge-model in ducks. A serological DIVA test able to detect infection in vaccinated duck flocks will be designed and the effect of vaccination on genetic and antigenic drift of H5N1 will be assessed.

The vaccines to be developed within the project should be efficient in domestic ducks as well as potentially in wild migratory ducks, swans and geese through a single mass administration (spray or drinking water). Some vaccines should also have a potential application for chickens and turkeys. This could therefore have a tremendous impact in controlling the worldwide increasing dissemination of the virus up to its potential full eradication from the ecosystem.

The project application was partially funded by LyonBiopôle www.lyonbiopole.org