Research to Improve the Safety of Zoonotic Disease Control

Zoonotic diseases – those that can spread from vertebrate animals to humans – are a growing threat to global health. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 75% of recently emerging infectious diseases affecting humans and approximately 60% of all human pathogens are zoonotic in origin. Vaccination of wild reservoir-animal populations can help control diseases such as rabies and Lyme disease, but because these vaccines are administered by orally ingested bait and contain live, weakened viruses, they raise their own public safety issues.

Ventria Bioscience is working with the CDC and the National Institutes of Health to develop new, safer vaccination strategies for controlling zoonotic disease in wild reservoir populations.