Could Self-disseminating Vaccines Cut Off Emerging Infectious Diseases at Source?

The 2014/2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa shone the spotlight not only on the unpreparedness of local health services and science to deal with the pandemic, but also on the phenomenon of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs).

In an expert review published online today in Expert Review of Vaccines, Dr. Michael Jarvis (who is a molecular virologist from Plymouth University School of Biomedical Sciences and an expert in EIDs and the use of self-disseminating vaccines to control them) identifies self-disseminating vaccines as one potential way forward to deal with future pandemics with potential to cut off such diseases at the animal source before they spread to human populations.

It is the first time that self-disseminating vaccines have been the subject of such a review.