Researchers develop potential vaccine to protect cattle from bird flu Their new vaccine strategy targets multiple H5N1 strains and could help reduce disease impacts on cattle operations and agricultural systemsResearchers at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln have developed a vaccine approach that shows promise in protecting against highly pathogenic bird flu, demonstrating strong efficacy in both mice and cattle. In 2024, the virus spread to dairy cattle — an unprecedented interspecies transfer — and subsequently caused illness in about 70 farm workers with close contact to infected animals. The new vaccine platform is designed to protect against multiple H5N1 strains and to generate immunity in both the bloodstream and the respiratory tract. “When the outbreak began, my hope was that this would cycle through dairy cattle and be gone, but that didn’t happen. Protecting cattle from H5N1 could reduce economic losses for producers while limiting opportunities for the virus to adapt and spread to humans.