Abstract

Because no suitable products are at the moment available to safely control the spread of BTV-16 in Europe, an inactivated vaccine was produced from the reference field isolate of bluetongue virus serotype 16. One group of six sheep was vaccinated subcutaneously with the inactivated vaccine twice, on days 0 and 28, whereas a second group of eight sheep was inoculated with saline solution and used as mock-vaccinated control animals. Seventy-eight days after the first vaccination, all sheep were inoculated subcutaneously with a suspension containing 10 6.3 TCID 50 of a virulent reference BTV-16 isolate. Apart from a transient inflammatory reaction at the injection site, no adverse effects were reported following vaccination. All vaccinated animals developed high titres (7.3–9.3 log 2(ED50%/50 μl)) of virus-specific neutralising antibodies and were resistant to challenge with BTV-16. Conversely, following challenge, control animals developed hyperthermia and long lasting high-titre viraemia.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.