Ivory Coast yesterday became the first country to launch the new R21 malaria vaccine, which was codeveloped by Oxford University and the Serum Institute of India (SII). It contains the Matrix M adjuvant—an immune-booster—made by Novavax.

R21 is the second malaria vaccine to enter the market, the first being RTS,S. The new vaccine was prequalified by the World Health Organization (WHO) in December 2023, a step that ensures quality and safety and paves the way for lower- and middle-income countries to receive doses.

The first R21 dose was administered yesterday in Abidjan, Ivory Coast's largest city, according to a news release from Novavax. R21 will be rolled out to 38 districts across the country.

Under $4 a dose

Though malaria deaths in Ivory Coast have been trending downward since 2017, the disease still kills about four people each day, mainly young children, according to the country's health minister.

Ahead of the rollout, SII has manufactured 25 million doses and said it will scale up production to 100 million doses annually, Oxford University said in a statement. SII is offering the vaccine for less than $4 a dose.

Ivory Coast has received 656,600 doses, which will initially be used to vaccinate 250,000 children across 16 regions. 

Fifteen African countries are slated introduce malaria vaccines in 2024 with support from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The goal is to reach 6.6 million children in 2024 and 2025.

A new prevalence study of the common foodborne bacterium Campylobacter in North Carolina chickens shows it is almost twice as common in backyard flocks than on commercial farms, and isolates are often resistant to antibiotics.

The authors say the findings are significant because chicken is the top consumed meat worldwide, and backyard poultry production is increasing in the United States. The results were published in JAC - Antimicrobial Resistance.

22% samples positive in backyard flocks, 12% on farms

North Carolina State investigators obtained samples from 10 backyard and 10 commercial broiler farms in North Carolina to follow flocks throughout production. They collected fecal and environmental samples at days 10, 31, and 52 days post-hatch in backyard flocks and on days 10, 24, and 38 on commercial farms. Environmental samples were collected from the soil, litter/compost, and feeders and waterers.

Of samples collected from backyard flocks, 21.9% tested positive for Campylobacter, compared with 12.2% of the farm samples. Most of the isolates were identified as C jejuni (70.8%), with the rest C coli (29.2%). The breakdown of positive sample locations in backyard farms was 70.2% from fecal samples, 6.4% from soil, 3.5% from litter/compost, and 19.9% from swabs of feeders and waterers. For commercial farms, the rates were 84.2%, 0%, 12.6%, and 3.2%, respectively.

We found a higher proportion of resistant isolates in commercial farms, with unprecedented higher levels in C. jejuni versus C. coli.

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed phenotypic resistance to ciprofloxacin (40.2%), an important treatment drug for Campylobacter, and tetracycline (46.6%). The researchers found a higher proportion of resistance in C jejuni isolates and on the commercial farms.

The authors concluded, "Despite higher prevalence in backyard farms, we found a higher proportion of resistant isolates in commercial farms, with unprecedented higher levels in C. jejuni versus C. coli."