Moderna has been awarded approximately $590 million from the federal government to help speed up the development of an mRNA-based bird flu vaccine, health officials said.

Moderna plans to advance research on the mRNA vaccine into a phase 3 trial after receiving positive ... is a broad term that refers to several types of influenza that normally infect birds. The H5N1 virus has raised concern among health officials because ...

The US Department of HHS is awarding the pharmaceutical company Moderna $590 million to continue developing a vaccine to protect against bird flu.

Sec. Mike Naig says the U.S. government is using what he describes as a three-legged stool approach to address the virus in the dairy and poultry industries.

The government wants Moderna to push forward with various bird flu vaccines as well as mRNA shots for other influenza strains with pandemic potential.

People who work with livestock are at the greatest risk of bird flu. To stop the disease's spread, it's critical that they participate in testing programs and wear masks and gloves when advised. “For those workers, do your best to cooperate with and trust your public health officials,” Landon said.

Suresh Mittal, Distinguished Professor of Virology in the College of Veterinary Medicine, presented “Universal Influenza Vaccine — An Aspiration or Reality?” at the Westwood Lecture Series on Jan. 28.

The number of bird flu cases in Central Massachusetts is relatively low, compared to a swath of the state that runs from Greater Boston to Southeastern Massachusetts. That message was delivered Wednesday during a virtual update from state health officials on the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus.

Moderna has been testing an mRNA candidate for influenza viruses like the H5 and H7 strains that are seen as pandemic threats. Others, including GSK and Pfizer, are also at work on similar shots.

The H5N1 detection in a human is the UK’s first since 2023 when surveillance detected infections in poultry workers. Regarding the new case, the HSA said the patient is from the West Midlands region and that the patient is well and has been admitted to a high consequence infectious disease unit.

The U.S. government has awarded Moderna $590 million to advance the development of its bird flu vaccine, as the country doubles down on efforts to tackle increasing infections in humans.

A pandemic is not inevitable, scientists say. But the outbreak has passed worrisome milestones in recent weeks, including cattle that may have been reinfected.