From a bird flu vaccination in Egypt to advances in probiotics for poultry by scientists in Spain and Finland, it’s a good news week for chicken researchers around the world. In Egypt, where bird flu has been a problem lately, the National Research Center in Cairo announced it has come up with a vaccine that is effective for chickens and can be updated to meet genetic medications. The HSN1 bird flu virus first hit Egypt in 2006, causing the country to lose 60 million chickens since then. Imported vaccines came at a high cost. The new Egyptian vaccine will sell in lots of 100 for about $60. Meanwhile researchers in Spain and Finland aiming to cut down on transmission of foodborne diseases from poultry have found that probiotic products used by humans can reduce the growth of Campylobacter in the digestive tracts of chickens. Probiotics are live microorganisms thought to be beneficial to the host organism. They are often contained in fermented foods, like yogurt, soy, or dietary supplements. Campylobacter is the most common cause of bacterial foodborne diarrheal disease in the world, according to the research report in the journal Zoonoses and Public Health. The risk is posed by handling and consumption of contaminated poultry meat. The research team included scientists from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, the Institute of Industrial Fermentation (CSIC) and the Institute for the Investigation of Nutrition Science (CIAL), also in Madrid, and Finland’s University of Turku and University of Helsinki. The goal of the project was to come up with alternatives to antibiotics to control the pathogen. The researchers said human-intended probiotics could be effective in controlling Campylobacter.