Salmonella not a threat to flu vaccine production

NEW YORK Despite concerns that this year's flu vaccine production will be affected by the recent salmonella outbreak, a Food and Drug Administration official and a drug maker advised that is not the case, according to published reports.

Although chicken eggs, which were said to be the source of this summer's salmonella outbreak, are used to make the flu vaccine, an FDA spokeswoman said that chicken eggs used in creating the flu vaccine are fertilized, unlike those used for consumption.

NEW YORK Despite concerns that this year's flu vaccine production will be affected by the recent salmonella outbreak, a Food and Drug Administration official and a drug maker advised that is not the case, according to published reports.

Although chicken eggs, which were said to be the source of this summer's salmonella outbreak, are used to make the flu vaccine, an FDA spokeswoman said that chicken eggs used in creating the flu vaccine are fertilized, unlike those used for consumption.

"The recent August 2010 salmonella outbreak in shell eggs for food consumption and subsequent recall does not affect 2010-2011 influenza virus vaccine production, safety or availability," an FDA spokeswoman wrote in a e-mail to the Wall Street Journal.

Added Sanofi-Aventis spokeswoman Donna Cary to the publication, "The companies that supply our eggs are exclusive to us and follow much higher levels of biosecurity than companies that supply table eggs. The network of farms [that] supply our eggs are inspected by us and continuously meet rigid guidelines under which the chickens and eggs are monitored for any illness."