Developing a vaccine against Nipah virus

Nipah virus is a type of RNA virus transmitted from animals to humans. The infection causes severe respiratory illness and symptoms including cough, headache, and fever, which can progress into encephalitis, seizure, and coma. Currently, there is no approved vaccine against Nipah virus available on the market. In recent years, outbreaks, from bat-to-human or pig-to-human transmission, have been reported in Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh, and India. The World Health Organization (WHO) therefore lists Nipah virus as a priority pathogen needing urgent action. In order to reduce the risk of Nipah virus becoming a global danger, it’s essential to develop a safe and effective vaccine against the virus for humans and animals. Matthias J. Schnell, Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and his team from Jefferson Vaccine Center at Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University) developed a novel recombinant vaccine called NIPRAB that shows robust immunization against Nipah virus in...