U.S. authorizes application of first vaccine made for bees; understand how it works
sexta-feira, janeiro 06, 2023
Important pollinators, bees have suffered population falls amid climate change, pesticide use and the spread of diseases among hives. In the United States (USA), the first vaccine exclusively for these insects was released on an experimental basis to combat the pest called "American loque".
The bacterium causes a disease that disuses the larvae of bees, leading them to putrefaction. The plague began among American creations and has now spread throughout the world, including being recorded in Brazil since the 2000s, where it is also called "American putrid creation".
To prevent this evil in insects, the solution elaborated by Dalan Animal Health, a biotechnology company, uses royal jelly as a vehicle: the vaccine is placed on this substrate, used by the worker to feed the queen, who is responsible for generating all bees from the hive. The queen, in turn, ingests the immunizing, which contains a low amount of the disease-causing bacteria, and the new generations are born protected against loque.
Currently there is no cure for the disease, which in parts of the United States affects a quarter of hives, requiring beekeepers to burn infected colonies and apply antibiotics to the rest to prevent further spread, reports The Guardian.
"Our vaccine is a breakthrough in bee protection," said Annette Kleiser, executive director of Dalan Animal Health. "We are ready to change the way we care for insects, impacting food production on a global scale."
If promising, the results of the application of the vaccine, which initially will be used only by professional breeders in the United States, can lead to versions to immunize insects against other versions of loque, as occurs in Europe.
The U.S. relies on bee colonies for food pollination, and professional hives are transported across the country to boost production of foods such as almonds and blueberries.
"In an ideal scenario, bee breeders will be able to announce that their queens are fully vaccinated," says Keith Delaplane, an entomologist at the University of Georgia, Dalan's partner for vaccine development.
Source: Um só Planeta
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