FDA licenses vaccine vs. bird flu infection

0 Comments | USA TODAY, April, 2007 | by Anita Manning

The first U.S. vaccine to prevent human infection with a deadly bird flu virus was licensed Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration.

Made by Sanofi Pasteur under contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the vaccine won't be available commercially, but will be stored in the Strategic National Stockpile and used only if Americans are at high risk of infection with the H5N1 bird flu virus, says FDA official Norman Baylor.

The virus, which has not been detected in the USA, has infected 291 people in a dozen countries and has killed 172, the World Health Organization reports. Scientists have warned that if it mutates so that it can spread easily from person to person, it could cause a pandemic. "The threat of an influenza pandemic is one...