To strengthen Canada’s role in responding to infectious diseases, VIDO-InterVac works with international partners to study human and animal pathogens and develop solutions and technologies that protect health.

USask researchers at VIDO-InterVac aim to develop vaccine for coronavirus outbreak

Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization - International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac) are aiming to develop a vaccine that could help address an outbreak of coronavirus that has worldwide implications.

By University Communications Jan 22, 2020

The virus has continued to spread across China and nearby countries, complicating efforts to contain the outbreak.

USask researchers have requested to work with the virus through the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, said Volker Gerdts, executive director and CEO of VIDO-InterVac.

"In house now we're designing strategies of how we can vaccinate for the disease and how we could test such a vaccine," said Gerdts, in an interview with CBC Saskatoon.

Gerdts said researchers at VIDO-InterVac have extensive experience with coronavirus, as the first vaccine for the virus in cattle was developed at the lab, with research around the virus continuing today.

South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the United States have each reported one case of the virus, while Thailand said the number of infected people there has risen to four, according to an article in the Washington Post.

To strengthen Canada’s role in responding to infectious diseases, VIDO-InterVac works with international partners to study human and animal pathogens and develop solutions and technologies that protect health.