BSU researchers work on West Nile vaccine

BOISE -- Over the last two summers, more than 1,100 Idahoans have gotten sick with West Nile virus. 

Two battles are being waged against the bug -- one with information, the other with science. 

"Every year thousands of Americans suffer the effects of West Nile.  I've learned that the West Nile Virus threat is very real. Fight the bite."

Public Service Announcements airing on TV and radio are part of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare's “Fight the Bite” campaign that will run through the summer.   

"Use an approved insect repellent according to label directions, drain standing water on your property and protect yourself between dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active."      

The PSAs aim to protect Idahoans from the mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus by giving them important information because there's no vaccine for people. 

That's what researchers at a Boise State University lab hope to change.

"At this point we no longer have the virus present, we just have a piece of the virus," said Dr. Ken Cornell.

They're working to develop a West Nile vaccine. 

"This really would help a lot of people.  It gives you kind of a sense of urgency in the project," said biology major Daniel Egbert. 

Last November, NewsChannel 7 reported that Dr. Cornell and his team received a nearly $1 million federal grant for the project.  They're now in the early stages of developing vaccine candidates to be tested in mice later this year.  

"Probably about a year from now we should have a handle on whether we're getting good immune responses and which one of our vaccine candidates looks the most promising," said Cornell.

The team of researchers ultimately hopes to come up with a vaccine that would come in a pill or nasal spray form because many people just don't like needles. 

"Yeah, ultimately that's the idea that we get a sufficient number of people vaccinated that transmission of the disease to humans becomes a thing of the past," said Cornell.

But the team has a lot of work ahead of it.

Dr. Cornell expects it take another three to five years.

The federal funding process takes time too.

Because of that, Cornell does not expect to get the first round of money until this fall.

But they are already in the process of requesting the second year's funding.