A Canadian company that's at the forefront of trying to find a vaccine for African Swine Fever, is also leading the charge for Canada in finding a vaccine for COVID19.
VIDO-Intervac is nearing the point, where a possible vaccine can be tested safely on humans. Dr. Volkder Gerdts says since early January a number of groups have been working together to develop a vaccine. He says within 5 weeks of that partnership, the Saskatoon based company already had a number of "candidate" vaccines ready for testing. Gerdts says VIDO-Intervac was the first Canadian company to isolate the virus and the first to have an animal model established to prove or disprove whether or not the vaccine would be successful. He says they tested the candidate on ferrets and the results were very positive. Gerdts says for now, they're at the safety testing stage to make sure the vaccine has no underlying side effects if administered to humans. At this point, Gerdts is confident actual human testing of their vaccine can begin in early fall.
That's not all they are working on. They have also determined that salmonella biofilm protein can cause autoimmune responses and arthritis in animals.
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