The Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) is on its way to approving a licence application from PaxVax Australia (PaxVax) for the intentional release of a GMO vaccine consisting of live bacteria into the environment in Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Victoria.

According to the regulator, it qualifies as a limited and controlled release under section 50A of the Gene Technology Act 2000 (the Act).

PaxVax is seeking approval to conduct the clinical trial of a genetically modified live bacterial vaccine against cholera. Once underway the trial is expected to be completed within one year, with trial sites selected from local government areas (LGAs) in Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia. PaxVax has proposed a number of control measures they say will restrict the spread and persistence of the GM vaccine and its introduced genetic material, however there is always a possibility of these restrictions failing and infecting wildlife and ecosystems.

Aerial vaccines have used in the United States, directed towards animals by the use of plastic packets dropped by planes or helicopters. Sanofi (who is one of the largest vaccine manufacturers in the world) has subsidiary companies such as Merial Limited who manufacture Raboral, an oral live-virus that is poisonous to humans yet distributed to wildlife in their masses.

West Nile Virus Spraying

In 2006 Michael Greenwood wrote an article for the Yale School of Public Health entitled, “Aerial Spraying Effectively Reduces Incidence of West Nile Virus (WNV) in Humans.” The article stated that the incidence of human West Nile virus cases can be significantly reduced through large scale aerial spraying that targets adult mosquitoes, according to research by the Yale School of Public Health and the California Department of Public Health.