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 Thomas
M. Chambers, PhD
Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center
Department of Veterinary Science
University of Kentucky Lexington, Kentucky 40546-0099
Influenza is the leading cause of acute infectious respiratory
disease in horses worldwide, and outbreaks occur in Kentucky
annually. My laboratory is an International Reference Laboratory
for equine influenza, the only one in the western hemisphere,
under the auspices of the Office International des Epizooties
(OIE). Thus my laboratory is called upon as one of very few
centers of expertise in international surveillance for this
disease. I am a member of the international Expert Surveillance
Panel which meets annually to review the status of equine
influenza worldwide and make recommendations to vaccine manufacturers
for updating their equine influenza vaccines.
I have established three broad areas of research on equine
influenza virus by my laboratory:
- Surveillance and molecular characterization of virus strains
currently in circulation, and analyses of vaccine efficacy.
- Host-virus interaction, host immunity, and cellular-molecular
pathogenesis.
- Research towards development of more efficacious equine
influenza virus vaccines.
The efforts of my laboratory and my students have resulted
in highly significant contributions to our field, including
the development and USDA licensure of FluAvert™ (Heska
Corporation, now sold by Intervet Inc.) the first intranasal,
modified-live virus vaccine for equine influenza, which I
have proudly described as the first equine flu vaccine in
the USA that really works; and the impact of our research
on maternal antibody interference upon foal vaccination schedules
recommended by the American Association of Equine Practitioners.
Our research on techniques for rapid diagnosis has been of
considerable significance to the horse industry, e.g. in affecting
import/quarantine regulations.
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