Livestock and Dairy Development Department, ICT (Islamabad Capital Territory), would set up 26 free livestock campuses in the rural areas and free treatment facilities for livestock would be provided at the camps.

Spokesman of the ICT administration said the rural livestock would be vaccinated against fatal diseases and for eradication of blood-sucking parasites while free advisory services would also be provided to the farmers for increasing the production of livestock.

Chief Commissioner Hamid Ali Khan said that the ICT administration was according top priority to the development of livestock in the rural areas. He said the ICT administration had launched several micro-credit schemes for the uplift of small farmers and promotion of rural livestock.

ICT administration would ensure availability of food items at fixed rates and those indulging in artificial price hike and hoarding in the wake of upcoming budget would be dealt with by stern action.

He said that price control committees headed by the magistrates had been activated and strict monitoring of prices would ensure stern action against the hoarders and profiteers.

The Chief Commissioner also directed the magistrates to take necessary action against the professional beggars in and around the surrounding area of the shrine of Hazrat Bari Imam.

He informed that a committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner has been constituted to deal with the beggary issue in Islamabad. The committee was conducting survey in the ICT to rehabilitate the genuinely deserving, needy and poor persons and children. Various social welfare institutions, including Edhi Welfare Foundation, had been consulted for the rehabilitation of such destitute people, he added.

In South Africa and around the world, researchers, community leaders, and thousands of men and women who have volunteered for AIDS vaccine trials commemorated HIV Vaccine Awareness Day.
There is simple, clear message that must be heard on this day–and every day–that an AIDS vaccine is possible. And it is critically needed!

Eleven years ago, when US President Clinton called for an accelerated effort to develop an AIDS vaccine, the field was reeling from the failure of early vaccine candidates and grappling with the complexities of the task of developing an affective vaccine. At that time no AIDS vaccine trials had been conducted in South Africa, and few trials had been conducted outside of the US.

Discovering and developing an AIDS vaccine will be especially difficult. It must be a global effort with dedicated work from hundreds, or even thousands, of researchers and the participation of tens of thousands of men and women volunteering for clinical trials in South Africa and around the world. It will require the cooperation of government and policymakers, funders, and community leaders.

Svenska Dagbladet reports that a Swedish anti– nicotine vaccine is about to enter a major clinical trial phase. Researchers are currently seeking 400 heavy smokers who are keen to kick the habit.

Researchers at Karolinska Institute have developed the vaccine in conjunction with Independent Pharmaceutical, a Swedish firm which plans to test the product, called Niccine, at five clinics in three Scandinavian countries. At present, there is no treatment for preventing relapse of individuals who have managed to stop smoking. Despite new and relatively effective products that help people stop smoking, about 80 percent of the persons that have stopped smoking will relapse within 12 months.

CEO Lena Degling Wikingsson in a statement said, "We estimate that Niccine may have a considerable potential to prevent these relapses”.

The Niccine vaccine is intended to aid in the creation of long–lasting antibodies in the immune system. Researchers are hoping that the formation of a nicotine–antibody will prevent nicotine from reaching the brain to induce its rewarding effects.

Defra extended and merged the Bluetongue protection zones following the delivery of additional doses of the Bluetongue vaccine.

Vaccination is only permitted within the Protection Zone. Therefore, in accordance with the Bluetongue vaccination plan, the Protection Zones will be merged by extending the zones into all the Hamsphire and West Sussex. The Protection Zone will also be extended into all of Lincolnshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. The Surveillance Zone is unaffected. Livestock keepers in the Protection Zone should contact their private vet to place an order.

Livestock keepers may apply to have land which they occupy within 8 km of the Bluetongue Surveillance Zone to be designated as part of the Zone. The message is clear “Don’t hesitate, vaccinate.”

US-based Novavax has made advances in its attempt to develop a vaccine to combat severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) by improving the production of a key component.

The company said it has created a new proprietary process to develop the vaccine. Novavax expects this to help it to overcome the difficulties it has faced in producing virus-like particles (VLP) vaccine candidates for SARS.

Dr Gale Smith, vice president, vaccine development, said "Until now, it has been difficult to produce VLP vaccine candidates against SARS and other complex infectious disease targets because many of these biological structures do not assemble efficiently.

"Our new proprietary process uses select components of SARS and other structural proteins that combine with cell membranes to form distinctive SARS coronavirus nanoparticles, which are nearly identical to the human SARS virus but lack the genetic material needed to replicate and cause disease."