From The Raptor Center

 Dateline August, 2003

This update is being sent to our best supporters who are as concerned as we are about West Nile virus and its implications for the health of raptors.

After several months of negotiating and preparing documents for approval within the University of Minnesota, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, The Raptor Center is about to engage in the active phase of testing an avian-specific vaccine for West Nile virus.

The vaccine is an advanced-technology DNA-plasmid vaccine which, when injected into the muscle of a bird, co-opts the protein-manufacturing mechanisms of the cells in the immediate vicinity of the injection site, and they begin to make viral proteins. The host's body in turn produces antibodies against these viral proteins, and protection from the disease is imparted. In theory, a recipient would need to be vaccinated only once in its lifetime.

Over the last several months, we have acquired 20 permanently disabled red-tailed hawks from rehabilitation programs throughout the United States. We will begin vaccinating them by mid-August. During the 12 weeks that follow, we will assess antibody production. Then the birds will be transported to our collaborator at Louisiana State University. There, they will be challenged with live virus to determine the overall effectiveness of the vaccine.

In late summer 2002, West Nile virus proved to be a particularly lethal agent for raptors, especially great horned owls, Cooper's hawks, and red-tailed hawks. it appeared again this year in Minnesota in July, a full month earlier than last year. Already we have seen more than two dozen raptors with this disease. Many of these were captive birds that were vaccinated with the only available commercial product, an inactivated-virus vaccine for horses. Our conclusion at this point is that this vaccine doesn't work very well in birds. Hence the need for research with the DNA-plasmid vaccine has been reinforced.

You responded generously to our past appeal for help to fund this much-needed research, and I thank you again. 

Patrick T Redig
D.V.M., Ph.D