Bird flu may likely become the next pandemic, and this vaccine is worth investigating further.
Bird flu is something we should be prepared for, but even if a pandemic never happens, everything we learn now from this vaccine can be applied to vaccines for other emerging infectious diseases.
In humans, the H5N1 bird flu takes about two weeks to kill, so there is time for T cells to come out and give protection.
And if avian flu develops into a pandemic human strain - as many experts fear it may - the vaccine might complement traditional vaccines and be used to protect people.