Manchester leads battle against Zika virus
A team of Manchester scientists has joined the global race to develop a Zika virus vaccine.
A team of British scientists has joined the global race to develop a Zika virus vaccine. The University of Manchester researchers hope to deliver results in 18 months, working with a smallpox virus derivative that could also be modified to protect against other infections. Dr Tom Blanchard, who is leading the project, said: As we have seen in the case of Ebola there is now a real need to react quickly to fast spreading tropical diseases. Zika can cause serious illness, but it often has no visible symptoms, so a vaccine for those at risk is one of the most effective ways we have of combating it.We know that there's an urgent need for this vaccine but we'll be working carefully to deliver a product which is safe and effective and which can be quickly deployed to those who need it. If we can also use this vaccine on multiple targets then this will represent an exciting step forward in dealing with these kinds of outbreaks.'' A number of other groups around the world, including teams in Canada, Brazil and the US, are also conducting research on Zika vaccines. The mosquito-spread disease was first identified in Uganda in 1947 but only recently hit the headlines after a major outbreak in South America. A serious health risk for pregnant women, it is associated with birth defects - especially microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads and brain damage. Last month the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Zika a global health emergency. The virus is not related in any way to smallpox. Dr Blanchard explained that the stripped down smallpox vaccine merely provided a reliablebase'' onto which other elements could be attached. To help fund the research programme Dr Blanchard's team has been awarded #177,713 from a #4 million pot of UK Zika investment. The Government has raised its share of funding from #1 million to #3 million. In addition a further #1 million has been promised by the Wellcome Trust, the UK's biggest research charity. The Medical Research Council has already allocated #3.2 million of the #4 million total to 26 science projects across the UK. Besides the vaccine programme, they include the development of a Zika blood test, an investigation of links between Zika and neurological disease, and improving birth defect surveillance in Brazil. Universities and Science Minister Jo Johnson said: This Government's decision to invest in science and innovation and protect science spending means we are able to react to emerging global threats like the Zika virus and allow the world class scientists we have here in the UK to conduct ground breaking and potentially life-saving research.'' Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, said:The speed at which Zika moved from being a relatively obscure tropical disease to a global health emergency has taken us all by surprise, and illustrates just how vulnerable the world is to emerging infections.'' JP