Madison Reporter

A second case of avian flu has been identified in Wisconsin and researchers are hard at work developing a vaccine to prevent an outbreak.

WMTV News reports that the second case was identified in a backyard flock in Rock County. 

A team of researchers at University of Wisconsin (UW) are working under the leadership of Professor Adel Talaat to develop a vaccine that would stem the spread of the virus, which is highly contagious and fatal among bird populations. 

“If we stop the cycle in birds, we can protect humans from getting the avian flu,” Talaat told WMTV News. 

The virus can lead to millions of poultry deaths, costing farmers billions of dollars. The problem can be especially disastrous in countries outside of the U.S. with less advanced agricultural systems. 

“They don’t have the resources we have to control some of these diseases,” Mariah Riel, a researcher in Talaat’s lab, told WMTV News.

Riel added that she was excited to work on a current problem where solutions could be applied to a larger issue at hand. 

“Even being able to make something so tiny you can’t even see it but it has the potential to change lives and save billions of dollars, it feels grand actually,” Riel said. “It doesn’t feel like a small part if feels very fulfilling and very large scale.”

The vaccine is still currently in the testing phase and the Talaat lab is seeking commercial partnerships to help the product reach the market. 

Although the virus can be deadly to humans, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that there is no immediate threat to public health or food safety.