Page 11 - HOH

A28 SCIENCE
Friday 23 august 2019

Urgency for vaccine grows as virus ravages China’s pigs

By SAM MCNEIL and CAN- to delete certain genes.
DICE CHOI But before a vaccine be-
Associated Press comes available, it needs
BEIJING (AP) — Scientists to be tested in large num-
are working to develop a bers of pigs in secure fa-
vaccine to help guard the cilities with isolation pens,
world’s pork supply as a waste and carcass incin-
deadly virus ravages Asia’s erators and decontamina-
pig herds. tion showers for staff, said
Farmers have long con- Linda Dixon, a biologist at
tained its spread by quar- London’s Pirbright Institute,
antining and killing infected which studies viral diseases
animals, but the disease’s in livestock. The process
devastating march into takes two to five years, she
East Asia is intensifying the said. The extensive testing
search for another solution. is necessary to ensure vac-
The virus hadn’t been con- cines made by weakened
sidered as high a priority for viruses don’t have unin-
researchers until it turned tended side effects.
up last year in China, home In the 1960s, for instance,
to half the world’s pig pop- Spain and Portugal tested
ulation, likely by way of such a vaccine after out-
Eastern Europe and Russia. breaks of African swine
Since then, it has spread In this May 8, 2019, photo, pigs eat feed at a pig farm in Panggezhuang village in northern China’s fever. The treated pigs
to other Asian countries in- Hebei province. seemed fine at first, but
cluding Vietnam and Tai- Associated Press then lesions broke out on
wan, killing millions of pigs cine is to kill a virus before of vaccine, made from a working on a vaccine that their skin, arthritis locked
along the way. Though it injecting it into an animal. weakened virus rather than genetically alters the virus, up their joints and the ani-
does not sicken people, The disabled virus doesn’t a dead one. With African an approach U.S. scientists mals failed to fatten up,
the disease is highly conta- make the animal sick, but swine fever, the puzzle has have been pursuing as well. said Jose Manuel Sanchez-
gious and deadly to pigs. it prompts the immune sys- been figuring out exactly The U.S. Department of Vizcaino Rodriguez, who
“Today’s situation, where tem to identify the virus how to tweak the virus. Agriculture said it recent- leads a lab focused on Afri-
you have this global threat, and produce antibodies In Vietnam, where the virus ly signed a confidential can swine fever at the Uni-
puts a lot more emphasis against it. This approach, has killed 3.7 million pigs in agreement with a vaccine versity in Madrid.
on this research,” said Dr. however, isn’t consistently six months, the government manufacturer to further re- The two countries eventu-
Luis Rodriguez, who leads effective with all viruses, said this summer it was test- search and develop one ally eradicated the disease
the U.S. government lab on including the one that ing vaccines but provided of Plum Island’s three vac- by enforcing strict sanitary
foreign animal diseases at causes African swine fever. few details of its program. cine candidates. The can- protocols, quarantining
Plum Island, New York. It’s why scientists have been In China, the government didates were made by ge- and killing infected and
One way to develop a vac- working on another type indicated scientists are netically modifying the virus carrier pigs. q

U.N.: Don’t worry about drinking

microplastics in water

By JAMEY KEATEN and MA- ter, including both tap and consumed microplastics
RIA CHENG bottled, most likely as the and other particles in the
Associated Press result of treatment and environment for decades
GENEVA (AP) — The World distribution systems."But without sign of harm.
Health Organization says just because we're ingest- Andrew Mayes, a senior
the levels of microplastics ing them doesn't mean lecturer in chemistry at Brit-
in drinking water don't ap- we have a risk to human ain's University of East An-
pear to be risky, but that health," said Bruce Gordon, glia who didn't participate
research has been spotty WHO's coordinator of wa- in the WHO report, agreed
and more is needed into ter, sanitation and hygiene. that microplastics in wa-
In this May 23 2019 file photo, Southern Connecticut their effects on the environ- "The main conclusion is, I ter don't appear to be a
State University professor Vincent Breslin holds a sample ment and health. think, if you are a consumer health worry for now.
of water that contains possible microplastics at the
North Haven Water Treatment Plant on Universal Drive. Microplastics are created drinking bottled water or "But I wouldn't want people
Associated Press when man-made materials tap water, you shouldn't to go away with the idea
break down into tiny par- necessarily be concerned." that microplastics are no
ticles smaller than about 5 Gordon acknowledged, longer important," because
millimeters (roughly one- however, that the available they might be harming the
fifth of an inch), although data is "weak" and that environment, he said. He
there is no strict scientific more research is needed. said stronger measures to
definition. He also urged broader ef- reduce plastic are needed.
In a report published forts to reduce plastic pol- "We know that these types
Wednesday, the U.N. health lution. The report is WHO's of materials cause stress to
agency said the minuscule first review to investigate small organisms," he said.
plastics are "ubiquitous in the potential human health "They could be doing a
the environment" and have risks of microplastics. It said lot of damage in unseen
been found in drinking wa- people have inadvertently ways."q