ST. PETERSBURG, August 9 (RIA Novosti, Olga Vtorova) - A St. Petersburg research center is seeking a loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) to produce a bird flu vaccine, Oleg Kiselyov, director of the National Flu Center of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday.
Kiselyov, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said the center needs $5-$12 million to begin production of the vaccine and intends to borrow from IBRD against intellectual property on a 10-year term.
The director said the government of St. Petersburg might secure the loan because development of a vaccine against H5N1 is critical.
The bird flu virus could return to Russia in a few years in a human strain, Kiselyov said, adding that he did not exclude the possibility that the virus would spread among people.
