Abstract
In Europe, badgers (Meles meles) are recognized as major tuberculosis (TB) reservoir hosts with the potential to transmit infection to associated cattle herds. Recent studies in Spain have demonstrated that vaccination with a heat-inactivated Mycobacterium bovis vaccine (HIMB) successfully protects captive wild boar and red deer against progressive disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of two oral vaccines against TB in a badger model: the live-attenuated M. bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin BCG vaccine (Danish strain) and a HIMB vaccine. Twenty-four badgers were separated in three treatment groups: oral vaccinated with live BCG (108 CFU, n = 5), oral vaccinated with HIMB (107 CFU, n = 7), and unvaccinated controls (n = 12). All badgers were experimentally infected with M. bovis (103 CFU) by the endobronchial route targeting the right middle lung lobe. Throughout the study, clinical, immunological, pathological, and bacteriological parameters of infection were measured. Both vaccines conferred protection against experimental TB in badger, as measured by a reduction of the severity and lesion volumes. Based on these data, HIMB vaccination appears to be a promising TB oral vaccine candidate for badgers in endemic countries.
Highlights
Animal tuberculosis (TB), caused by infection with members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), is a major economic disease of livestock worldwide that can cause zoonotic TB in humans [1]
As noted below (Table 1, Figure 1), four badgers were positive in the P22 enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) on the day of challenge which would indicate a previous sensitization to M. bovis (TB infection) or other mycobacteria not detected using cellular immune techniques
In this study we report an experimental model of TB in badgers challenged by the endobronchial route with an infective 103 colony forming units (CFU) dose of a Spanish M. bovis strain
Summary
Animal tuberculosis (TB), caused by infection with members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) (mainly M. bovis, and to a lesser extent, M. caprae), is a major economic disease of livestock worldwide that can cause zoonotic TB in humans [1]. In Europe, in the United Kingdom (UK) and Republic of Ireland (ROI), badgers (Meles meles) are recognized as major TB reservoir hosts with the potential to transmit infection to associated cattle herds [3, 4], while in Spain the wildlife species most commonly associated with outbreaks in domestic animals is the wild boar [5]. That is because there are particular challenges associated with the development of a live oral BCG vaccine, not least maintaining the survival of BCG in baits until deployment in the field, and with issues arising from release of a live vaccine into the environment. Recent studies in Spain have begun to address these issues by demonstrating that oral vaccination with a heat-inactivated Mycobacterium bovis vaccine (HIMB) successfully protects captive wild boar [18] and red deer [19] against progressive disease. Field studies have demonstrated the efficacy of oral HIMB vaccination of piglets against TB in endemic free-ranging wild boar populations [17]
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