“An Asian elephant at Houston zoo in the US has received the first mRNA vaccine against herpes, which is the leading killer of Asian elephants calves in captivity,” reports The Guardian:
Tess, a 40-year-old Asian elephant, was injected with the trial vaccine at the Texas zoo in June, after a spate of deaths in juveniles in zoos around the world from the elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV).
Dr Paul Ling, who researches herpes in humans at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, developed the elephant mRNA vaccine, which is designed to boost the immunity of young elephants…..The mRNA vaccine is similar in design to the Covid-19 vaccines used in humans during the recent pandemic, and aims to prevent serious illness and death from EEHV in young Asian elephants.
The virus can cause a lethal hemorrhagic disease in Asian elephants, similar to the effects Ebola has on humans. Researchers believe it is passed among Asian elephants through their trunks. First discovered in 1990 and scientifically described in 1999, the virus is a major driver of Asian elephant deaths in captivity.
This month, two juveniles died from the virus at Dublin zoo. Zoos in Chester, Melbourne and Zurich are among those that have lost several baby Asian elephants to the disease. In symptomatic elephants, it has a mortality rate of about 70%.
A cancer vaccine for dogs doubles their survival rate for certain cancers.
Life-saving vaccines are also being developed for humans. Personalized cancer vaccines have been developed that will cut death rates from breast cancer and skin cancer.
And Moderna is developing a cancer vaccine that is expected to cut cancer survivors’ risk of death or recurrence by 44% after high-risk melanomas.
Scientists have come up with a vaccine that can prevent many cases of dengue fever, which is agonizing (it is also known as “breakbone fever”). A chlamydia vaccine is showing promising results in trials.
It usually takes years after vaccines are developed before they are approved by the Food and Drug Administration, which can take many years to approve life-saving drugs and medical devices. Jake Selliger described how he was “dying of squamous cell carcinoma, and the treatments that might save [him] are just out of reach,” due to the FDA, which routinely takes many years to approve life-saving medical treatments.
“The FDA is responsible for more deaths on an annual basis than any other government agency. Here’s one of its victims,” notes Paul Matzko of the Cato Institute. Researchers are “curing multiple cancers right now,” yet “the FDA is acting like it’s business as usual” and dragging its feet on approving cures.
