Bluetongue virus reverse genetics: the way forward for Bluetongue vaccines

蓝舌病是绵羊、牛和山羊的一种病毒性疾病，对英国农业构成经济威胁。该病毒是由昆虫传播的，自1998年以来，蓝舌病的爆发已在欧洲向北蔓延，并于2007年9月到达英国。目前欧洲的情况很严重，绵羊、山羊和牛的广泛感染导致许多动物死亡，英国也有发生类似情况的重大风险。目前可用于对抗蓝舌病的疫苗被认为既不安全也不有效，不足以广泛使用，也不能保护24种不同病毒株中的一种以上。由于先前接种一种毒株不能预防其他毒株，因此优先考虑接种一种能预防所有目前流行的病毒毒株的疫苗。该提案将开发这种疫苗，同时保持区分受感染和接种疫苗的动物的可能性，这对贸易考虑很重要。这种新疫苗之所以可能，是因为英国研究人员最近的发现，并使用了其他公共或商业部门组织尚未使用的技术。

Bluetongue is a viral disease of sheep, cattle and goats that poses an economic threat to UK agriculture. The virus is spread by insects (flying midges), since 1998 outbreaks of Bluetongue have spread Northwards in Europe and in September 2007 it reached the UK. The current European situation is severe with widespread infection of sheep, goats and cattle causing many animal deaths, and there is significant risk that a similar scenario will develop in the UK. Current vaccines available against Bluetongue are considered neither safe nor effective enough to be used on a widespread basis, nor do they protect from more than one of the 24 different strains of the virus. As prior vaccination for one strain does not protect against other strains a vaccine that will protect against all currently circulating strains of the virus is a priority. This proposal will develop such a vaccine, while maintaining the possibility to distinguish between infected and vaccinated animals, which is important for trade considerations. The new vaccine is only possible due to recent discoveries made by UK researchers, and uses technology which is not yet available in other public or commercial sector organisations.