Irradiated Vaccines for Animal Health and Food Security
Irradiation is a safe and reliable solution for many problems, related to agriculture, food, animal and human health.
Vaccines, in animals just like in people, activate an immunological response that helps the body prepare to fight off a future disease. Some vaccinations use live microorganisms, and radiations can help address this by inactivating it, so that it cannot infect the vaccinated animal.
At the same time, radiation does not affect the microorganism’s structure and also ensures that the vaccines do not contain any contamination.
This is crucial in countries like Ethiopia, which exports one million cattle per year thanks to a massive vaccination derived from nuclear techniques.
Read more about it in this IAEA story.