A protective vaccine against the pox virus for red squirrels

Red squirrels are struggling against the grey squirrel invasion largely because of the Squirrelpox virus. While infected grey squirrels are seldom affected, red squirrels suffer debilitating disease leading to death. Contact between the two species leads inevitably to disease outbreaks and declines in red squirrel numbers. If red squirrels were immunised against the virus, they would have a better chance of survival when they interact with grey squirrels, including when reintroduced into areas of the country where they are currently extinct.State-of-the-art vaccines can be simple and cheap to produce, are non-infectious and are administered by injection (as with most human vaccines). Red squirrels could be caught safely in live-cage traps and easily immunised by trained and licensed operators and then released with confidence that they would have protection.This is a modern opportunity to put momentum into a vaccine program, provided regulatory hurdles can be addressed