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cat lovers around the world can begin rejoicing at the fact that they no longer will have to worry about their pets contracting the dreaded fiv virus.
scientists in south korea have announced they have found a cure for the feline fiv virus. the news came out this weekend from seoul, announcing that after billions of dollars in research on what seemed like a lost cause, that everything had finally paid off.
“the initial tests on mice were quite promising,” said jeffery wong, a lead researcher on the project. “we decided about six months ago to begin the initial tests on cats, and we are proud to say that the trials are over, and this vaccine is completely ready for use on all domesticated breeds of cat.”
the vaccine which can be given to kittens at six weeks old, will completely inoculate them from contracting the feline fiv virus. in cats presently carrying the aids virus it has shown in clinical trials to have a 85 percent success rate at eradicating the virus, and in those 85 percent their immune systems have rebuilt themselves to the same state as a healthy feline.
“we knew soon after the final stages of the clinical trials were over that we would need to have quite a supply of the vaccine, so we currently are sitting on about 4 million doses of it”, said marjorie quinn, of virginia based bio-tek laboratories. this is the company that will be producing and distributing the cure, starting in april of this year.
bio-tek was just one of the backers of the project, which began in 2002 after concerns that the feline fiv virus was reaching epidemic numbers among cats all over the world. all together just over 3 billion dollars has been invested in this project that has had scientist from over 13 countries working on it. the veterinarian drug business is a 55 billion dollar a year market. it is expected to grow considerably with the introduction of the feline fiv vaccine.
“this is such great news, to hear today”, said katie thomson, a journalist for the magazine, cat fancy. “i am elated at the idea that we (cat owners) will not have to worry about our fluffy companions contracting such a nasty and devastating disease.”
some critics of the amount of time and money put into this project cite the fact that there is still as of yet, no working cure or vaccine for the human hiv virus.
miss thomson replies to negative comments on the vaccine with, “well i cannot very well put a condom on mr. tittlebums and explain safe sex to him, so a cure is the only answer to the problem felines face. humans on the other hand have many options to avoid contracting the virus.”
the dharma project named after the cat of one of the researchers who died four years ago from feline aids, has been at the forefront in developing and testing new vaccines for pets. they gained national attention in 2002 when they produced the first cure for cancer in gerbils, hamsters, and guinea pigs. in 2003 they had found cures for leukemia in horses. in 2004 they announced vaccines for pancreatic cancer in dolphins, lung cancer in chimpanzees and marsupial flu. they are currently working on a version of the ru-486 abortion pill that will be for rabbits, and a cure for mad cow disease.
