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Dogs can help overcome deadly human diseases
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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A dog is certainly a man's best friend. It is the faithful four-legged creatures that can open the way to the development of new vaccines against deadly human diseases.
Scientists at the University of Georgia have discovered that a virus commonly found in dogs could help humanity make its next big breakthrough in vaccination.
Parainfluenza virus 5, or HSV-5, which is harmless to humans, is thought to cause upper respiratory infections in dogs and is therefore a target for canine vaccine developers. In a paper published today in PLOS ONE, researchers describe how the virus could be used to combat diseases that have not been eradicated by vaccines until now.
This "canine" virus can suppress many pathogens that are difficult to control with vaccinations, said Biao He, a professor at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine.
"With its help, we have developed a very strong vaccine against H5N1 influenza (the so-called ' bird flu '), but we are also working on vaccines against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria," says Biao He.
HSV-5 does not cause disease in humans, since our immune system is able to recognize it and destroy it. Placing antigens of other viruses or parasites inside HSV-5 allows us to create a kind of signaling system: the immune system through HSV-5 finds a way to pathogens and creates antibodies that then protect the body from infection.
This approach not only ensures maximum vaccine effectiveness, but also makes vaccination much safer, since it does not require the use of weakened pathogens. For example, scientists hope to create an HIV vaccine using HSV-5 that will contain only those parts of the human immunodeficiency virus that are necessary for the immune system to respond, but under no circumstances can lead to infection.
"Safety has always been our main goal," Biao He said. "HSV-5 makes it much easier to create vaccines without using live pathogens."
Using viruses as a vaccine delivery mechanism is not new to science, but most previous attempts to create effective vaccines this way have failed. If people and animals have strong immunity to such viruses, the vaccine will be destroyed too quickly by the immune system.
However, after 15 years of research, HSV-5 allowed scientists to create a vaccine against "bird flu", which was successfully tested on mice. The team of researchers believes that this vaccine will be able to protect people as well. In addition, with the help of HSV-5, they hope to create vaccines against many other human diseases.
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