[ad_1]
The University of Wageningen has received a grant of 12.5 million euros to create a vaccine against the virus transmitted by mosquitoes, Rift Valley fever, without danger to humans. The grant comes from the Coalition for Innovation in Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI), NOS reports.
Rift Valley fever is an infectious disease that causes high mortality in farm animals and can also be dangerous for humans. The disease, which takes its name from the Kenya Rift Valley, where it first appeared, is widespread in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. People are primarily infected by contact with infected blood or animal organs. But the virus can also be transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito by pricking an infected animal. Experts fear that the virus can also be transmitted from person to person by the same mosquito transmitting yellow fever. Rift Valley Fever is fatal for about one in 100 infected people.
Previous research conducted by the University of Wageningen has shown that mosquitoes originating in the Netherlands are capable of transmitting the Rift Valley fever virus. There is already a vaccine to protect livestock against the disease. With the $ 12.5 million grant, Wageningen Bioveterinary Research is studying the efficacy and safety of a similar vaccine for humans.
The CEPI is a partnership of public, private and philanthropic organizations that was created in Davos in 2017. Since then, CEPI has invested $ 380 million in the development of 14 vaccines, including the Rift Valley Fever vaccine led by University of Wageningen. The fourteen vaccines are all against viral infections that can be transmitted from one animal to another and sometimes from one person to another, usually through mosquitoes. Due to climate change, the colder regions offer more and more mosquito-friendly habitats that previously existed only in the tropics and sub-tropics.
Source link
