Black Death vaccine being developed amid fears the disease could return and kill millions

COVID jab scientists are developing a Black Death vaccine over fears the disease could re-emerge and kill millions.

Researchers believe their inoculation will be the first approved in the UK for the ancient infection.

The Black Death — also known as bubonic plague — has killed 200million people worldwide and medics fear a super-strength version may now appear.

The team behind the Oxford AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine said they had made progress on an injection that could prevent bubonic plague developing.

A trial of their vaccine on 40 healthy adults, which started in 2021, shows it is safe and can produce an immune response to the often-fatal condition.

Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, said the trial’s results will be examined by global experts before tests continue this year.

He told the Telegraph: “There are no licensed plague vaccines in the UK.

“Antibiotics are the only treatment.

“There are some licensed vaccines in Russia.”

The bubonic plague still exists in pockets of the world and has “potential for pandemic spread”, leading health experts believe.

Scientists at Porton Down’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory wrote last year that antimicrobial resistance is creating superbug strains that can’t be countered by standard antibiotics.

Evolving strains which could pose a risk have already been found in Madagascar and Peru.