By Sarah Klein
The National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg is working on a vaccine to guard against the human swine flu.
With the mysterious disease that started in Mexico and has been spreading across the United States, two Canadian provinces now have positive cases of the flu — 6 in total. British Columbia and Nova Scotia reported multiple cases on Sunday.
Scientists will determine if the existing flu shot can protect against this new strain of flu. They will also test to see if the shot will protect animals from the swine flu, said Dr. Frank Plummer, the lab’s scientific director.
Mexican authorities first approached the Winnipeg lab to help diagnose samples of the virus on April 17.
A possible vaccine could take at least six months to develop.
— With files from The Canadian Press
Image credit: FirstScience.com
