New Vaccine Strategies Could Safely Control Rift Valley Fever, According to Pitt Study

PITTSBURGH, June 22 – Two new approaches could form the basis for the first-ever human vaccine for Rift Valley Fever (RVF), an infectious disease that threatens both farm animals and people, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Center for Vaccine Research . Reported in this week’s PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, experimental vaccines developed with these approaches produced strong immune responses in mice and may be safer than the only available RVF vaccine, which is limited to animal use.  Although RVF mainly affects farm animals, the virus has