Scientists behind the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine are developing a bubonic plague vaccine amid growing concerns about the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of the Black Death.
Plague has killed approximately 200 million people throughout history, causing three of the world’s seven known pandemics.
Although the bacterial infection can currently be treated with antibiotics, none of the vaccines under development have been approved.
Scientists are now urging the UK to add a Black Death vaccine to its stockpile as the risk of superbug strains increases.
A trial of the new vaccine in 40 healthy adults, which began in 2021, produced promising results, demonstrating both safety and the ability to produce an immune response.
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Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said the trial results would be submitted for peer review within weeks.
“There is no approved plague vaccine in the UK. Antibiotics are the only treatment. There are vaccines approved in Russia,” he told the Telegraph.
Government military scientists have called for the vaccine to be manufactured in large quantities, warning that plague still exists around the world with “potential for pandemic spread.”
The disease can manifest in three forms: bubonic, pneumonic and septicemic plague.
Bubonic plague, characterized by swelling of the lymph nodes around flea bites, is 30% fatal without treatment.
Pneumonic plague, which affects the lungs, is 100% fatal if not treated within 24 hours and can spread between humans through droplets.
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Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said the trial results would be submitted for peer review within weeks.
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The infection is usually spread by fleas which transmit bacteria from infected rodents to humans.
The Black Death epidemic in the 1300s decimated Europe. Medical historians estimate that about half the population was killed by the disease.
Scientists at the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) in Porton Down warn there is a “demonstrable” risk of the superbug outbreak evolving. Strains resistant to antibiotics have already been discovered in Madagascar and Peru.
The growing threat of antimicrobial resistance is expected to cost 39 million lives worldwide by 2050.
DSTL scientists wrote in the journal NPJ Vaccines that vaccine development must be accelerated “to prevent future disastrous plague outbreaks.”
The risk is increased by antimicrobial resistance which creates strains of superbugs that cannot be easily treated with conventional antibiotics.
DTSL member Professor Tim Atkins warned that antibiotic-resistant plague infections could remain active for longer, increasing the risks of transmission.
“For pneumonic plague, it increases the chances of infecting other people nearby,” he told the Telegraph.
Dr Simon Clarke, from the University of Reading, highlighted growing concerns about bioterrorism.
“Malicious use in bioterrorism or biological warfare could allow the bacteria to spread relatively efficiently,” he said.
He added that vaccinating the entire population would be the only way to quickly control such a situation, urging states to maintain their capacity for rapid vaccine production.