Current availability of vaccines including vaccine banks

Avian influenza can be considered one of the greatest global challenges the animal health sector has ever had to face. It is primarily a disease of animals and must be effectively managed by the veterinary community. Infection of humans in contact with the H5N1 virus continues to occur, however, with the possibility of mutations or re-assortment and the ever-present threat of the emergence of a pandemic. Therefore, whatever measures can be taken when outbreaks of avian influenza occur to reduce the amount of virus in circulation and potential human exposure must be reviewed constantly. Conventional methods for controlling diseases of epizootic proportions, such as avian influenza, have tended to rely on bio-security and culling (stamping out) of enormous numbers of animals. Such approaches might not be adequate in areas of intensive animal husbandry, and society is questioning more and more the ethics of slaughtering millions of animals. The costs and economic impact of this strategy also has a considerable effect on the economy of the country or region in which the disease outbreak occurs.