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Messenger RNA (more commonly known as mRNA) has advantages over traditional vaccines and could protect both human and livestock health, according to a new background paper from Indiana Farm Bureau’s public policy team.

Among the advantages of mRNA vaccines are that they:

• Are more stable.
• Can be produced more rapidly. The vaccines can be deployed in about 8-12 weeks compared to traditional vaccines which can take upwards of 6 years before they are developed and approved to hit the market.
• Can be tailored to target specific pathogens. This makes them ideal for protecting farm animals from emerging and persistent diseases.

Currently, mRNA vaccines are approved for use only in swine under the trade name Sequivity, by Merck Animal Health. Herd vaccination is not mandated. Livestock producers have the discretion to decide whether to vaccinate their herds, and this is likely to remain the case.

Livestock mRNA vaccines could protect human health in cases involving zoonotic diseases, which are diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans. An example of this is avian influenza, which can be transmitted to humans, though this is somewhat rare. Current vaccines are effective against avian influenza, but they need to be updated regularly to protect against new strains of the virus. The mRNA vaccines could be used to develop more effective and longer-lasting vaccines.

Another example is porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), a highly contagious disease that causes significant economic losses to the pork industry – roughly $500 million annually in the U.S. There currently is no effective vaccine against PRRS. However, mRNA vaccines are being developed that could protect pigs from this disease, which would help the pork industry and could also help prevent PRRS from mutating into a zoonotic strain.

Learn more about this research at www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/14/2/401.