The role of thresholds in the response of lambs to vaccination with irradiated Trichostrongylus colubriformis larvae

Abstract

A piecewise logarithmic model fitted to worm counts of ewe lambs vaccinated and challenged in pens with a range of doses of irradiated and normal Trichostrongylus colubriformis larvae respectively, indicated that the threshold for response to both vaccine ( V 0 = 4400) and challenge dose is exceeded by 5000 larvae. Whereas response was vaccine dose dependent, it was independent of challenge dose. Ram lambs vaccinated at low dose levels were as resistant against challenge as ewe lambs, but by contrast, failed to show increased protection after vaccination with high doses of irradiated larvae. Serum titre of antiworm complement-fixing antibodies at the time of challenge also indicated that ram lambs were less responsive immunologically than ewe lambs following vaccination at the higher dose levels. A field study showed that response to vaccination was only apparent after transfer of the sheep to heavily contaminated pastures, suggesting that previous exposure of the vaccinated animals to the low dose of infective larvae available on a lightly contaminated pasture constituted a challenge which was below the threshold.