MOSCOW, May 2. /TASS/. The Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology is developing a vaccine against West Nile fever, the facility’s deputy director told TASS in an interview.

"We are now making a vaccine against West Nile fever, which could also be an imported infection," Denis Logunov, deputy director of the Gamaleya Research Institute, said.

Logunov suggested that West Nile fever has the greatest pandemic potential among diseases endemic to the African continent. "Since this infection is not yet peculiar to Russia, but could become so, we are naturally developing a vaccine for our population. However, this infection is peculiar to Africa, so we can and plan to translate our developments for African countries," he specified.

According to Logunov, there are several antigenic variants for the future vaccine to be tested, as well as a number of antigenic forms. "About three or four or five sequences will be created this year, and in the next three years we will get to clinical trials. If there is a positive response from the government or from foreign countries, this can be put into practice," he said.