SYDNEY, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- An Australian vaccine platform demonstrated in animals could soon become a "plug-and-play" system to rapidly adapt to future mosquito-borne disease threats in humans, researchers said.
Building on more than a decade of work, University of Queensland (UQ) researchers have developed the ISVac platform, which uses a mosquito-specific virus genetically engineered to generate virus particles that are non-infectious to humans or animals, according to a UQ statement released Monday.
The particles have been used as vaccines against Japanese encephalitis virus in pigs and West Nile virus in crocodiles, said UQ Associate Professor Jody Peters.
"This next stage is a huge leap forward, developing a potential new tool to protect humans against emerging mosquito-borne diseases," Peters said.
"With the changing climate there's been an expansion of where mosquitoes are thriving, and it is pushing mosquito-borne diseases into new regions," she said, adding that Japanese encephalitis, which can cause severe neurological illness, lifelong disability and death, was not seen in Australia until 2022.
If successful, the platform could support the development of vaccines against other mosquito-borne diseases, including dengue, Zika, yellow fever and West Nile virus, the researchers said. ■