Global Biodefense April 8, 2022
Under a five-year grant from NIAID researchers at Albany Medical College are working to develop a vaccine that could protect against plague. Bubonic plague is the most common naturally occurring form of the three main types of plague, which also include pneumonic plague and septicemic plague. In the U.S., plague is most common in rural areas of the southwest, particularly New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado. It is treated with antibiotics. There is no vaccine currently available that provides long-term defense against it. While plague in humans is relatively rare, there strains that are resistant to antibiotics and there are concerns it could be used as a bioweapon. The team plans to modify another, less-lethal bacteria in the Yersinia family – Y. pseudotuberculosis (Yptb) – into a carrier for protective antigens against Y. pestis. After testing the protective immunity of this strain in animal models, they’ll work to decipher the mechanisms of the immune protection it induces. According to the researchers their work provides the fundamentals for the development of a highly effective and safe vaccine that can protect against current and future strains of plague…read more.
Scanning electron micrograph of Yersinia pestis… Credit: NIAID