viruses Review Hazard Characterization of Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara Vector: What Are the Knowledge Gaps? Malachy I. Okeke 1,*, Arinze S. Okoli 1, Diana Diaz 2 ID , Collins Offor 3, Taiwo G. Oludotun 3, Morten Tryland 1,4, Thomas Bøhn 1 and Ugo Moens 2 1 Genome Editing Research Group, GenØk-Center for Biosafety, Siva Innovation Center, N-9294 Tromso, Norway;
[email protected] (A.S.O.);
[email protected] (M.T.);
[email protected] (T.B.) 2 Molecular Inflammation Research Group, Institute of Medical Biology, University i Tromsø (UiT)—The Arctic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromso, Norway;
[email protected] (D.D.);
[email protected] (U.M.) 3 Department of Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, IMC University of Applied Sciences Piaristengasse 1, A-3500 Krems, Austria;
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[email protected] (T.G.O.) 4 Artic Infection Biology, Department of Artic and Marine Biology, UIT—The Artic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromso, Norway * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +47-7764-5436 Received: 27 September 2017; Accepted: 26 October 2017; Published: 29 October 2017 Abstract: Modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) is the vector of choice for human and veterinary applications due to its strong safety profile and immunogenicity in vivo. The use of MVA and MVA-vectored vaccines against human and animal diseases must comply with regulatory requirements as they pertain to environmental risk assessment, particularly the characterization of potential adverse effects to humans, animals and the environment. MVA and recombinant MVA are widely believed to pose low or negligible risk to ecosystem health.