Abstract
The international governing body of equestrian sports requires that horses be vaccinated against equine influenza within 6 months and 21 days of competing. The aim of this study was to compare the antibody response of young sport horses to six-monthly booster vaccination with equine influenza vaccines of different formulations. An inactivated vaccine was allocated to 35 horses and subunit and recombinant vaccines were allocated to 34 horses each. After vaccination, all horses were monitored for evidence of adverse reactions. Whole blood samples were collected at the time of vaccination and on nine occasions up to six months and 21 days post vaccination. Antibodies against equine influenza were measured by single radial haemolysis. Transient fever and injection site reactions were observed in several horses vaccinated with each vaccine. Only two horses failed to seroconvert post booster vaccination but there was a delayed response to the recombinant vaccine. The antibody response to the recombinant vaccine was lower than that induced by the whole-inactivated and subunit vaccines up to three months post vaccination. Thereafter, there was no significant difference. By six months post vaccination, the majority of horses in all three groups were clinically but not virologically protected. There was minimal decline in antibody titres within the 21-day grace period.
Highlights
The economic impact of equine influenza is minimised by vaccination with vaccines that decrease virus shedding and clinical signs [1,2]
The FEI allow a 21-day grace period to allow for strategic vaccination scheduling. This should not jeopardise the immune status, as results of this study provide evidence that the decline in antibody titre induced by three different vaccine types within the grace period is minimal
Transient fever and injection site reactions were observed in several horses vaccinated with the subunit, whole-inactivated and recombinant vaccines but there was no significant difference in reactogenicity to the different formulations
Summary
The economic impact of equine influenza is minimised by vaccination with vaccines that decrease virus shedding and clinical signs [1,2]. The objective of this study was to compare the humoral immune response after booster vaccination with a whole-inactivated vaccine Plus), an immune-stimulating complex (ISCOM)-based subunit vaccine (EquipFT) and a canarypox recombinant vaccine (Proteq Flu-Te). Antibodies against the envelope glycoprotein haemagglutinin (HA) have been demonstrated to protect against equine influenza both in experimental challenge studies and in outbreaks in the field [5,6,7,8,9]. These antibodies can be measured by the haemagglutination
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 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 callDisclaimer: 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.
