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Review
. 2024 Dec 31;20(1):2347019.
doi: 10.1080/21645515.2024.2347019. Epub 2024 May 28.

Pandemic preparedness through vaccine development for avian influenza viruses

Flavio Cargnin Faccin  1 , Daniel R Perez  1
Affiliations
Review

Pandemic preparedness through vaccine development for avian influenza viruses

Flavio Cargnin Faccin et al. Hum Vaccin Immunother. .

Abstract

Influenza A viruses pose a significant threat to global health, impacting both humans and animals. Zoonotic transmission, particularly from swine and avian species, is the primary source of human influenza outbreaks. Notably, avian influenza viruses of the H5N1, H7N9, and H9N2 subtypes are of pandemic concern through their global spread and sporadic human infections. Preventing and controlling these viruses is critical due to their high threat level. Vaccination remains the most effective strategy for influenza prevention and control in humans, despite varying vaccine efficacy across strains. This review focuses specifically on pandemic preparedness for avian influenza viruses. We delve into vaccines tested in animal models and summarize clinical trials conducted on H5N1, H7N9, and H9N2 vaccines in humans.

Keywords: Vaccines; avian influenza; influenza a viruses; pandemic preparedness; pandemic viruses; vaccine development; wild birds.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Cumulative global cases and deaths of human infections with H5N1, H7N9, and H9N2 avian influenza viruses reported to the World Health Organization (WHO). Cases and deaths are cumulative from the first reported case of each virus subtype in humans until February 22, 2024. Numbers on top of the bars indicate how many cases and deaths have been reported to the WHO. Note: as of February 22, 2024, two deaths have been reported from H9N2 infections according to the WHO. Due to the limited scale of the figure, these deaths are not visually represented, but the number is included in the graph.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
(a) H5N1, H7N9, and H9N2 influenza subtypes from avian sources can infect humans and cause disease. Sustained human-to-human transmission of these subtypes has not been observed but is required to the emergence of pandemic viruses which could further spread within the human population. (b) vaccine development and vaccination of humans can prevent infections and the generation of pandemic viruses, improving pandemic preparedness and management against avian influenza viruses. This figure was created with BioRender.com.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Summary of animal data for H5N1, H7N9, and H9N2 vaccines tested in mice, ferrets, and non-human primates. The figure categorizes vaccines by platform (inactivated, live attenuated, and alternative) and uses color-coded boxes for each category. It is important to note that only data from vaccines discussed in this review for each animal model are included. While other platforms exist, they are not discussed in detail within this manuscript. This figure was created with BioRender.com.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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