USDA Approves Honeybee Vaccine to Target ‘American Foulbrood’ Disease

A beekeeper looks at beehives from his apiary above his garage in Washington on Aug. 7, 2019. Bendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has granted conditional use to the world’s first-ever vaccine for honeybees that could prevent colonies from getting infected with American foulbrood, a type of bacterial disease that affects the bee’s larvae.

Dalan Animal Health, the U.S.-based biotech company that developed the vaccine, announced the approval in a Jan. 4 statement.