Sharks killed for swine flu vaccine: Nat Geo Report

New York, Jan 4 : Sharks are being killed to obtain a substance called squalene for preparation of swine flu vaccine, according to a report by National Geographic.

The report said vaccines being made to protect people from swine flu are killing sharks because millions of doses of the pandemic H1N1/09 vaccine contain a substance called squalene, which is extracted from shark livers.

Olive oil, wheat germ oil and rice brain oil also contains natural squalene, but in smaller amount. This has drawn drug-makers' attention towards killing of sharks, especially the deepwater species, that contain huge amount of the substance.

According to the report, commercial fishers are being hired to obtain shark livers.

"There are several very disturbing issues associated with use of shark-liver-oil squalene," said Mary O'Malley, co-founder of the volunteer-run advocacy group Shark Safe Network."The deepwater sharks targeted have extremely low reproductive rates, and many are threatened species."

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a major swine-flu vaccine producer, announced in October that it had received orders for 440 million doses of vaccine containing adjuvant.

Though GSK refused to detail on the source for its squalene supply, O'Malley said 440 million doses would require at least 9,700 pounds (4,400 kilograms) of shark oil, based on the stated squalene content of 10.69 milligrams in a dose.

"This estimate, however, assumes zero waste and no refining of the squalene once it's been extracted from the sharks," O'Malley said.

Another drug company, Novartis, also reportedly uses shark squalene for producing swine flu vaccines.

Swine flu vaccines have been approved for distribution in Europe and Canada, but not in the US.