The invention provides a vaccine for protecting a human patient againstinfection by a human influenza virus strain, wherein the vaccine comprises anantigen from an avian influenza virus strain that can cause highly pathogenicavian influenza. The antigen can invoke an antibody response in the patientthat is capable of neutralising said human influenza virus strain. Whereas theprior art used known non-pathogenic avian strains to generate antibodies inhumans against known pathogenic avian strains, the invention uses knownpathogenic avian strains to protect against emerging pathogenic human strains.Furthermore, whereas the prior art focused on achieving a close antigenicmatch between the vaccine strain and the target strain, the invention selectsvaccine strains based on their pathogenicity, regardless of any perceivedclose antigenic relationship to the target strain. As the invention does notrequire detailed knowledge of an emerging strain, a vaccine can be providedfurther in advance to reduce the risk and potential effects of a humanpandemic outbreak.
