Improvement of diagnostic and vaccine tools for emerging and re-emerging animal health threats

Open for proposals

Project Type

Coordinated Research Project

Project Code

D32035

CRP

2254

Approved Date

24 December 2019

Status

Active - Ongoing

Start Date

13 March 2020

Expected End Date

30 June 2025

Participating Countries

Australia
Austria
Cameroon
Ethiopia
Indonesia
Kenya
Pakistan

Description

Vaccination has proved to be the best preventive measure against infectious diseases. Despite all the successes there are a number of limitations to the currently practised approaches. In veterinary medicine the application of vaccines by injection limits their use for small ruminants  in rural areas . This practice requires well trained staff taking care to keep utmost hygiene and maintain a cold chain for the vaccines. Additionally injected vaccines do rarely induce production of specific mucosal antibodies (IgA) covering the mucosal tissues in nose, mouth and lungs which scavenge bacteria or viruses before they can enter the body.  Such IgA antibodies can efficiently be induces by "mucosal" vaccines, i.e. formulations which are applied to the nose, mouth or eyes. Such vaccines and specifically the eye drop vaccines have the big advantage that you need only small volumes, application can be done by village vaccinators and the cool chain will be much easier to maintain. Recent experiments formulating such mucosal vaccines for ruminants presented a number of challenges namely too low viscosity leading to spills, unsuitable components for freeze drying or the process of formulating the components appropriately. Additionally the measurement of IgA is still done by a "research tool" and existing general laboratory tools have to be adapted to allow their measurement in standard laboratories.  
The expected outcome of this CRP is the  development of a number of different mucosal vaccine formulations against viral diseases like PPR or influenza or against bacterial diseases like Mycoplasmas or Pasteurella. In parallel the tools to measure specific IgA induced in the mucosals  will be developed and applied. Experimental combinations of live attenuated viruses together with killed bacterial preparations will be tested to evaluate an enhancing effect of such combinations.
 

Objectives

To develop protocols for the production and formulation of biologicals for mucosal application. This includes the development of serological and immunological tools to quantify the effects of different formulations

Specific objectives

Develop mucosal formulations and SOPs for attenuated viruses like PPR or irradiated viruses like Influenza to serve as immune inducers for other pathogens inactivated by irradiation or bacterins .

Develop methods to measure mucosal immune response using isotope, fluorescent or enzyme-labelled antibodies

Correlate mucosal immune response to protection and the cellular immune response elicited

Evaluate the effect of irradiation on selected compounds to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of mucosal formulations

Evaluate formulation components for mucosal applications towards technical feasibility (Freeze drying, stability of product...)

Evaluate the cost benefits of mucosal vaccines

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