ferrets

(MedThink Communications) A single administration of a novel, nasally delivered influenza vaccine elicited immune responses in ferrets that were more than 20 times higher than those generated by two injections of the currently approved vaccines, according to a study by NanoBio Corporation.

The new vaccine used only half the standard antigen dose to produce this effect.The company's nasal vaccines exert adjuvant activity without the need for pro-inflammatory materials, toxins or cytokines.

Endangered black-footed ferrets aren't exactly lining up to be stuck with a vaccine, but in an effort to help control an extensive outbreak of plague in South Dakota, some of the ferrets are getting dosed with a vaccine given by biologists.

Black-footed ferrets are one of the rarest mammals in North America. The plague is transmitted from animals to humans by bites of infected fleas, but it can be cured with antibiotics if treatment is prompt.