Immunization in horses involves the administration of vaccines to stimulate an immune response, thereby providing protection against specific infectious diseases. Vaccines commonly used in equine medicine include those for equine influenza, tetanus, and West Nile virus. The process of immunization aims to prepare the horse's immune system to recognize and combat pathogens upon exposure. Vaccination schedules and protocols may vary based on factors such as age, health status, and regional disease prevalence. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the mechanisms, efficacy, and considerations of immunization practices in equine health.
Behrendt D, Burger D, Gremmes S, Szunyog K, Röthemeier S, Sieme H.Stallion-like or aggressive behaviour in mares affected by unilateral granulosa theca cell tumour (GTCT) is well-known, but use of a GnRH-vaccine as an alternative to surgical removal of the neoplastic ovary has not been investigated. Objective: To determine the effect of immunisation against GnRH on ovarian size, testosterone concentration, Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) concentration, and owner-reported behaviour in four mares affected by unilateral GTCT. Methods: Retrospective case report. Methods: A presumptive diagnosis of GTCT was made in four mares based on clinical signs, behavioural ch...
Tapia D, Sanchez-Villamil JI, Torres AG.Burkholderia mallei (Bm) is a facultative intracellular pathogen and the etiological agent of glanders, a highly infectious zoonotic disease occurring in equines and humans. The intrinsic resistance to antibiotics, lack of specific therapy, high mortality, and history as a biothreat agent, prompt the need of a safe and effective vaccine. However, the limited knowledge of protective Bm-specific antigens has hampered the development of a vaccine. Further, the use of antigen-delivery systems that enhance antigen immunogenicity and elicit robust antigen-specific immune responses has been limited a...
van Rijn PA, Maris-Veldhuis MA, Grobler M, Wright IM, Erasmus BJ, Maartens LH, Potgieter CA.African horse sickness virus (AHSV) is a virus species in the genus Orbivirus of the family Reoviridae causing African Horse Sickness (AHS) in equids with a mortality of about 95% in naïve horses. AHS causes serious losses in developing countries where horses play a central role in draft power and transportation. There are nine AHSV serotypes inducing no or low cross-neutralizing antibodies. AHSV is spread by biting Culicoides midges. AHS is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa, and a serious threat outside Africa, since Culicoides species in moderate climate conditions are spreading the closely rel...
Rossi SL, Russell-Lodrigue KE, Plante KS, Bergren NA, Gorchakov R, Roy CJ, Weaver SC.Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) is a re-emerging virus of human, agriculture, and bioweapon threat importance. No FDA-approved treatment is available to combat Venezuelan equine encephalitis in humans, prompting the need to create a vaccine that is safe, efficacious, and cannot be replicated in the mosquito vector. Here we describe the use of a serotype ID VEEV (ZPC-738) vaccine with an internal ribosome entry site (IRES) to alter gene expression patterns. This ZPC/IRES vaccine was genetically engineered in two ways based on the position of the IRES insertion to create a vaccine th...
Karam B, Hines S, Skipper L, Pusterla N.Serum amyloid A (SAA) is considered a major acute phase protein (APP) in horses. Serum amyloid A stall-side assays are commercially available to assess the inflammatory response of patients with various infectious and noninfectious conditions. The objective of this study was to determine the analytical performance of a new point-of-care (POC) assay for the measurement of SAA in whole blood and plasma of horses. One hundred and sixty blood samples were collected from 60 horses at various time points after immunization with an equine core vaccine. Analytical validation of the SAA POC assay inclu...
Kim HH, Yang DK, Ji M, Lee SK, Hyun BH.Japanese encephalitis is one of the most important mosquito-borne and zoonotic diseases in Asia and the Pacific region. Although the dominant Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) genotype has shifted from G3 to G1 in Korea since 1990, a G3 strain (Anyang 300) has been used in vaccines for horses for almost 40 years. This study aimed to investigate the seroconversion rates and geometric mean titers (GMTs) of virus-neutralizing antibodies (VNAs) against JEV G1 and G3 in horses immunized with the G3 vaccine. Methods: Serum samples of 1,231 horses immunized with the Anyang 300 vaccine were collected ...
Proverbio D, Perego R, Baggiani L, Ferrucci F, Zucca E, Nobile F, Spada E.A knowledge of the blood groups and alloantibodies present is essential for the safe transfusion of blood products in horses. Pre-transfusion screening and blood typing minimizes the risk of incompatible RBC transfusions and prevents immunization of the recipient against incompatible RBC antigens. The frequencies of blood groups can vary among different breeds. Knowledge of a breed's blood group prevalence can be very useful for identifying the best blood donors during transfusion in clinical practice. The aims of this study were to estimate the prevalence of the Ca blood type in horses from I...
Cruz A, Sullivan DB, Doty KF, Hess RA, Canisso IF, Reddi PP.The acrosome plays a critical role in sperm-oocyte interactions during fertilization. SP-10 is an acrosomal matrix protein, which is evolutionarily conserved among mammals. The SP-10 antibody has been shown to be useful for staging the seminiferous cycle in the mouse and human. A canonical acrosomal marker; however, has never been used for staging in the horse. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the presence of SP-10 within the horse acrosome using an anti-mouse SP-10 antibody, to classify spermatids based on the shape of the acrosome, and then to use that information to a...
Dominguez-Medina CC, Rash NL, Robillard S, Robinson C, Efstratiou A, Broughton K, Parkhill J, Holden MTG, Lopez-Alvarez MR, Paillot R, Waller AS.Bacterial superantigens (sAgs) are powerful activators of the immune response that trigger unspecific T cell responses accompanied by the release of proinflammatory cytokines. () and () produce sAgs that play an important role in their ability to cause disease. Strangles, caused by , is one of the most common infectious diseases of horses worldwide. Here, we report the identification of a new sAg of , SpeS, and show that mutation of the putative T cell receptor (TCR)-binding motif (YAY to IAY) abrogated TCR-binding, whilst maintaining interaction with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) c...
Robinson C, Waller AS, Frykberg L, Flock M, Zachrisson O, Guss B, Flock JI.The equine disease strangles, caused by Streptococcus equi, remains a major cause of welfare and economic cost to the global horse industry. Here we report the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of a novel multi-component chimeric fusion protein vaccine, called Strangvac, when administered to ponies via the intramuscular route. Across the four studies, Strangvac was safe and induced robust antibody responses towards the vaccine components in blood serum and the nasopharynx, which were boosted by revaccination up to 12 months after a primary course of 2 vaccinations 4 weeks apart. The vaccin...
Onen EA.The aim of this study was to evaluate formalin-inactivated autovaccination to treat cutaneous papillomatosis and to perform molecular typing of the papillomavirus in four horses (two foals, one 3-year-old filly and a 5-year-old stallion). Methods: Histopathological slides of lesions were prepared and stained with haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) to establish a diagnosis that was based on observation koilocytosis, which is a pathognomonic cytopathic change that is associated with papillomatosis, using light microscopy. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing were performed using the ...
Jonsdottir S, Fettelschoss V, Olomski F, Talker SC, Mirkovitch J, Rhiner T, Birkmann K, Thoms F, Wagner B, Bachmann MF, Kündig TM, Marti E....： Insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) is an eosinophilic allergic dermatitis of horses caused by type I/IVb reactions against mainly bites. The vaccination of IBH-affected horses with equine IL-5 coupled to the Cucumber mosaic virus-like particle (eIL-5-CuMV) induces IL-5-specific auto-antibodies, resulting in a significant reduction in eosinophil levels in blood and clinical signs. the preclinical and clinical safety of the eIL-5-CuMV vaccine. The B cell responses were assessed by longitudinal measurement of IL-5- and CuMV-specific IgG in the serum and plasma of vaccinated and unvaccinate...
Song J, Song R, Wang P, Zhang Y, Yan Y, Zhou J, Chahan B, Liao M.The erythrocytic-stage surface protein equi merozoite antigen 1 (EMA-1) of Theileria equi is a major candidate for the development of a diagnostic antigen for equine piroplasmosis. In this study, BALB/c mice were immunized with purified recombinant EMA-1 to prepare monoclonal antibody (mAb) against T. equi EMA-1, and 1 mAb 5H2 was obtained that showed good reaction with infected red blood cells (RBC) in the indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA). To develop a rapid serological detection method for T. equi infection in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, recombinant EMA-1 originating from...
Wernery U, Joseph S, Raghavan R, Dyer B, Spendrup S.Our investigation has shown that multiple vaccinations with inactivated African horse sickness (AHS) vaccines containing all 9 serotypes and produced at the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory in Dubai, UAE, protect horses from AHS. However, the immunization did not prevent African horse sickness fever (AHSF) in approximately 10% of the vaccinated horses despite high enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and virus neutralizing antibodies. African horse sickness fever is a very mild form of AHS with similar clinical signs. From all 6 horses which had developed AHSF, no virus was isolated from ED...
Olomski F, Fettelschoss V, Jonsdottir S, Birkmann K, Thoms F, Marti E, Bachmann MF, Kündig TM, Fettelschoss-Gabriel A.Insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) is the most common seasonal pruritic allergic dermatitis of horses occurring upon insect bites. In recent years, a major role for IL-31 in allergic pruritus of humans, monkeys, dogs, and mice was acknowledged. Here, we investigate the role of IL-31 in IBH of horses and developed a therapeutic vaccine against equine IL-31 (eIL-31). IL-31 levels were quantified in allergen-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and skin punch biopsies of IBH lesions and healthy skin from IBH-affected and healthy horses. The vaccine consisted of eIL-31 covalently ...
Wu F, Zhang S, Zhang Y, Mo R, Yan F, Wang H, Wong G, Chi H, Wang T, Feng N, Gao Y, Xia X, Zhao Y, Yang S.Ebola virus infections lead to severe hemorrhagic fevers in humans and nonhuman primates; and human fatality rates are as high as 67%-90%. Since the Ebola virus was discovered in 1976, the only available treatments have been medical support or the emergency administration of experimental drugs. The absence of licensed vaccines and drugs against the Ebola virus impedes the prevention of viral infection. In this study, we generated recombinant baculoviruses (rBV) expressing the Sudan virus (SUDV) matrix structural protein (VP40) (rBV-VP40-VP40) or the SUDV glycoprotein (GP) (rBV-GP-GP), and SUDV...
Rutkowska DA, Mokoena NB, Tsekoa TL, Dibakwane VS, O'Kennedy MM.African horse sickness (AHS) is a severe arthropod-borne viral disease of equids, with a mortality rate of up to 95% in susceptible naïve horses. Due to safety concerns with the current live, attenuated AHS vaccine, alternate safe and effective vaccination strategies such as virus-like particles (VLPs) are being investigated. Transient plant-based expression systems are a rapid and highly scalable means of producing such African horse sickness virus (AHSV) VLPs for vaccine purposes. Results: In this study, we demonstrated that transient co-expression of the four AHSV capsid proteins in agroin...
Pan X, Wu Y, Wang W, Zhang L, Xiao G.Argentine haemorrhagic fever (AHF) is a rodent-borne disease with a lethality as high as ~30%, which is caused by the New World arenavirus, Junín virus (JUNV). It was once a major epidemic in South America and puts millions of people in Argentina at risk. Here, we aimed to develop horse antibodies or antibody fragments against JUNV. Before preparing the horse antibodies, a strategy to efficiently generate horse antisera was established based on comparisons among immunogens and immunization methods in both mice and horses. Antisera against JUNV were finally obtained by vaccinating horses with ...
Marín-López A, Barreiro-Piñeiro N, Utrilla-Trigo S, Barriales D, Benavente J, Nogales A, Martínez-Costas J, Ortego J, Calvo-Pinilla E.African horse sickness virus (AHSV) is an insect-borne pathogen that causes acute disease in horses and other equids. In an effort to improve the safety of currently available vaccines and to acquire new knowledge about the determinants of AHSV immunogenicity, new generation vaccines are being developed. In this work we have generated and tested a novel immunization approach comprised of nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) of AHSV serotype 4 (AHSV-4) incorporated into avian reovirus muNS protein microspheres (MS-NS1) and/or expressed using recombinant modified vaccinia virus Ankara vector (MVA-NS1)....
Kato Y, Sayama Y, Sano M, Kaneko MK.Podoplanin (PDPN), which is a mucin-type membrane glycoprotein, is expressed on lymphatic endothelial cells and epithelial cells of many organs. PDPN is also overexpressed in several malignant cancers, and its expression is associated with cancer progression and poor prognosis. Human PDPN possesses three platelet aggregation-stimulating (PLAG) domains and the PLAG-like domain (PLD), which binds to C-type lectin-like receptor-2 (CLEC-2). Previously, we reported a novel antihorse PDPN (horPDPN) monoclonal antibody (mAb), PMab-219, using Cell-Based Immunization and Screening (CBIS) method. PMab-2...
Knödlseder JM, Fell SF, Straubinger RK.A total of 143 horses were included in a study to test a commercial vaccine against Lyme borreliosis. The vaccine contained three different antigens (outer surface protein A, OspA) to prevent the infection with spirochetes - B.burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. afzelii and B. garinii. Horses in Group A (49 animals) received two vaccinations on days 0 and 14 and a booster on day 365, whereas 50 horses in Group B received an additional booster vaccination on day 180. Group C (44 animals) was not immunized. Total antibody levels and specific OspA antibody responses were assessed quantitatively and qua...
Yazdansetad S, Mosavari N, Tadayon K, Mehregan I.Burkholderia mallei is the leading cause of glanders, a highly transmittable and an OIE-notifiable disease of equidae. Despite the importance of B. mallei, little is known about serodiagnosis of glanders. The present study aimed to develop an immunoblotting assay based on whole-cell proteome of B. mallei to enable accurate serodiagnosis of glanders. Methods: Three farm horses were subcutaneously immunized with a crude suspension (106 cfu/ml) of heat-inactivated B. mallei formulated with incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA) to achieve a hyperimmune sera panel. The immunization was done for 1, 14 ...
Vianna AM, Santos AC, Cunha RC, de Souza Stori de Lara AP, Weege GB, Leivas Leite FP.Equine theileriosis is a severe equine disease caused by the protozoan Theileria equi, which is prevalent in tropical and subtropical areas. In this study, a recombinant equi merozoite antigen-2 (rEMA-2) of T. equi was used as an immunogen. Two groups of 10 mice each were divided into control and vaccinated groups. Sixty mares seronegative for theileriosis were divided in two groups, one vaccinated and another group as a control animal. Mice and mares of the vaccinated groups were inoculated with 150 μL of the vaccine containing 50 μg of rEMA-2 and 2 mL of the vaccine containing 200 ...
Prutton JSW, Barnum S, Pusterla N.Equine coronavirus (ECoV) is considered an emerging enteric virus with reported morbidity rates ranging from 10 to 83% and fatality rates ranging from 7 to 27% in adult horses; a vaccine for ECoV is currently not available. This study investigated the safety, humoral response and viral shedding in horses inoculated with a commercially available modified-live bovine coronavirus (BCoV) vaccine. Twelve healthy adult horses were vaccinated twice, 3 weeks apart, either orally, intranasally or intrarectally. Two healthy unvaccinated horses served as sentinel controls. Following each vaccine adminis...
de la Rosa G, Olvera F, Archundia IG, Lomonte B, Alagón A, Corzo G.Antivenoms are fundamental in the therapy for snakebites. In elapid venoms, there are toxins, e.g. short-chain α-neurotoxins, which are quite abundant, highly toxic, and consequently play a major role in envenomation processes. The core problem is that such α-neurotoxins are weakly immunogenic, and many current elapid antivenoms show low reactivity towards them. We have previously developed a recombinant consensus short-chain α-neurotoxin (ScNtx) based on sequences from the most lethal elapid venoms from America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Here we report that an antivenom generated by immu...
Roczo-Farkas S, Cowley D, Bines JE.This report, from the Australian Rotavirus Surveillance Program and collaborating laboratories Australia-wide, describes the rotavirus genotypes identified in children and adults with acute gastroenteritis during the period 1 January to 31 December 2017. During this period, 2,285 faecal specimens were referred for rotavirus G and P genotype analysis, including 1,103 samples that were confirmed as rotavirus positive. Of these, 1,014/1,103 were wildtype rotavirus strains and 89/1,103 were identified as rotavirus vaccine-like. Genotype analysis of the 1,014 wildtype rotavirus samples from both ch...
Kim NY, Park KE, Lee YJ, Kim YM, Hong SH, Son WR, Hong S, Lee S, Ahn HB, Yang J, Seo JP, Lim YK, Yu CH, Hur GH, Jeong ST, Lee HS, Song K, Kang TJ....Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), produced by , are the most toxic substances known. However, the number of currently approved medical countermeasures for these toxins is very limited. Therefore, studies on therapeutic antitoxins are essential to prepare for toxin-related emergencies. Currently, more than 10,000 Halla horses, a crossbreed between the native Jeju and Thoroughbred horses, are being raised in Jeju Island of Korea. They can be used for equine antitoxin experiments and production of hyperimmune serum against BoNT/A1. Instead of the inactivated BoNT/A1 toxoid, Halla horse was immunized...
Joonè CJ, Nolan MB, Bertschinger HJ, Schulman ML.A sequence of studies is reviewed that reported the domestic horse (Equus caballus) mare as an appropriate and accessible research platform for recording clinical and laboratory data post-immunisation with anti- GnRH and -zona pellucida (ZP) immunocontraceptive vaccines. Experience with a native porcine ZP (pZP) vaccine in African elephant (Loxodonta africana) cows highlighted needs for improving vaccine formulations and more clearly defining associated ovarian effects and safety profiles. Initially, the efficacy, reversibility and safety of the GnRH vaccine Improvac® in mares was demonstrate...
Hammond SA, Cook SJ, Falo LD, Issel CJ, Montelaro RC.Immunization regimens that induce a broadly reactive cytolytic T lymphocyte (CTL) response specific for lentiviral antigens have emerged as the leading candidates in efficacy trials conducted in both animal modelshumans. To date, lentivirus vaccination strategies have overlooked one such immunization strategy, namely the use of particulate antigens. To evaluate the efficacy of targeting antigen into the phagocytic pathway to elicit a cell-mediated immune response to lentiviral antigens, we initiated the first study of a particulate-based vaccination protocol using a large animal model system. ...
Heldens JG, Pouwels HG, Derks CG, Van de Zande SM, Hoeijmakers MJ.Equine influenza is a contagious disease caused by equine influenza virus which belongs to the orthomyxovirus family. Outbreaks of equine influenza cause severe economic loses to the horse industry and consequently horses in competition are required to be regularly vaccinated against equine influenza. Unlike the existing inactivated vaccines, Equilis Prequenza Te is the only one able to induce protection against clinical disease and virus excretion after a primary vaccination course consisting of two vaccine applications 4-6 weeks apart until the recommended time of the third vaccination. In t...
Ma J, Shi N, Jiang CG, Lin YZ, Wang XF, Wang S, Lv XL, Zhao LP, Shao YM, Kong XG, Zhou JH, Shen RX.To investigate essential factors that determine the efficacy of vaccines against lentiviruses, an effective attenuated equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) vaccine strain and a proviral derivative of the vaccine were compared with respect to differences in inducing protective immunity. Although these two strains replicated equally well in vitro and in vivo, the proviral strain induced significantly less protection from disease and infection caused by viral challenge and significantly lower specific neutralizing capability. These findings indicated that the proviral strain had lost the ability...
Walther S, Rusitzka TV, Diesterbeck US, Czerny CP.Our understanding of how equine immunoglobulin genes are organized has increased significantly in recent years. For equine heavy chains, 52 IGHV, 40 IGHD, 8 IGHJ and 11 IGHC are present. Seven of these IGHCs are gamma chain genes. Sequence diversity is increasing between fetal, neonatal, foal and adult age. The kappa light chain contains 60 IGKV, 5 IGKJ and 1 IGKC, whereas there are 144 IGLV, 7 IGLJ, and 7 IGLC for the lambda light chain, which is expressed predominantly in horses. Significant transcriptional differences for IGLV and IGLC are identified in different breeds. Allotypic and allel...
El Garch H, Crafford JE, Amouyal P, Durand PY, Edlund Toulemonde C, Lemaitre L, Cozette V, Guthrie A, Minke JM.A recombinant canarypox virus vectored vaccine co-expressing synthetic genes encoding outer capsid proteins, VP2 and VP5, of African horse sickness virus (AHSV) serotype 4 (ALVAC(®)-AHSV4) has been demonstrated to fully protect horses against homologous challenge with virulent field virus. Guthrie et al. (2009) detected weak and variable titres of neutralizing antibody (ranging from <10 to 40) 8 weeks after vaccination leading us to hypothesize that there could be a participation of cell mediated immunity (CMI) in protection against AHSV4. The present study aimed at characterizing the CMI ind...
Daly JM, Yates RJ, Browse G, Swann Z, Newton JR, Jessett D, Davis-Poynter N, Mumford JA.Vaccination and challenge studies in ponies are the most relevant experimental system for predicting whether strains included in equine influenza vaccines are relevant, but they are difficult to perform. Objective: In order to investigate the feasibility of using a small animal model, results of a cross-protection study in hamsters were compared with those from a previous pony challenge experiment. Methods: Animals were immunised with inactivated vaccines containing one of 4 strains of equine influenza A H3N8 subtype virus isolated over a 26 year period (1963 to 1989), then challenged with a 1...
Del Piero F.Equine viral arteritis (EVA) can cause prominent economic losses for the equine industry. The purpose of this review is to provide the pathologist some familiarity with the clinical history, lesions, pathogenesis, and diagnosis of EVA. EVA is caused by an arterivirus (equine arteritis virus, EAV), and the vascular system is the principal but not unique viral target. EVA has variable presentations, including interstitial pneumonia, panvasculitis with edema, thrombosis and hemorrhage, lymphoid necrosis, renal tubular necrosis, abortion, and inflammation of male accessory genital glands. EAV anti...
Montagnier L.Recent data indicate that the lymphadenopathy-associated virus (LAV) is morphologically similar to animal lentiviruses, such as equine infectious anemia and visna viruses. This finding, together with the cross-reactivity of the core proteins of LAV with those of the equine infectious anemia virus and a similarity in genome structure and biological properties, allows LAV to be placed in the retroviral subfamily of Lentivirinae. Molecular data indicate a high degree of genetic variation of the virus, especially in the envelope gene, which have important implications for the origin of the virus (...
Grady GF, Maxfield HK, Hildreth SW, Timperi RJ, Gilfillan RF, Rosenau BJ, Francy DB, Calisher CH, Marcus LC, Madoff MA.Reappearance of eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) in Massachusetts residents in the 1970's provided an opportunity to assess the predictive value of data on rainfall, EEE in horses, and carriage of EEE virus (EEEV) by mosquitoes, factors which had been studied annually since the last EEE outbreak in 1955-1956. The cycle of multiple cases during 1973-1975 started in a second consecutive year of rainfall that exceeded the annual mean by more than 20 cm, conditions recapitulating the 1955-1956 experience. In 1973, widespread EEE fatalities in horses presaged human cases, another recapitulation of...
Waghmare AB, Salvi NC, Deopurkar RL, Shenoy PA, Sonpetkar JM.Several biochemical and hematological changes in horses are observed during production of snake antivenom. Although conventional adjuvants like Freund's (Complete and Incomplete) are good immunopotentiators, they produce considerable local reactions in animals. Variety of commercial adjuvants, like montanide adjuvants, having high immunopotentiation and showing lesser side effects are available. The prime objective during antivenom production is to strike a balance between safety of immunized horses and efficacy of the product. In our earlier work, efficacy of montanide group of adjuvants in a...
Imboden I, Janett F, Burger D, Crowe MA, Hässig M, Thun R.The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of active immunization against GnRH on ovarian activity, plasma progesterone and estradiol concentrations and on estrous behavior in adult mares. Eighteen cyclic mares were randomly divided into a treatment and control group. Nine mares were immunized twice with 2 mL (400 microg GnRH-protein conjugate) of a GnRH-vaccine (Improvac, CSL Limited, Australia) administered intramuscularly, 4 weeks apart. Control mares received the same amount of saline solution. Ovaries and uterus of all mares were examined weekly by ultrasonography from 3 weeks befor...
Nambo Y, Kaneko H, Nagata S, Oikawa M, Yoshihara T, Nagamine N, Watanabe G, Taya K.Physiological roles of inhibin in mares were investigated by means of passive immunization using an antiserum to inhibin that had been raised in a castrated goat. Eight mares were given an intravenous injection of either 100 mL (n = 4) or 200 mL (n = 4) of inhibin antiserum 4 d after a single intramuscular injection of PGF2 alpha on Day 8 after ovulation, 4 control mares were treated with 100 mL castrated goat serum in the same manner. Jugular vein blood samples were collected after treatment with the serum until 192 h post treatment. Follicular growth and ovulations were monitored by ultrasou...
Bordin AI, Pillai SD, Brake C, Bagley KB, Bourquin JR, Coleman M, Oliveira FN, Mwangi W, McMurray DN, Love CC, Felippe MJ, Cohen ND.Rhodococcus equi is an important pathogen of foals that causes severe pneumonia. To date, there is no licensed vaccine effective against R. equi pneumonia of foals. The objectives of our study were to develop an electron beam (eBeam) inactivated vaccine against R. equi and evaluate its immunogenicity. A dose of eBeam irradiation that inactivated replication of R. equi while maintaining outer cell wall integrity was identified. Enteral administration of eBeam inactivated R. equi increased interferon-γ production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells in response to stimulation with virulent R. ...
Figueiredo LF, Dias-Lopes C, Alvarenga LM, Mendes TM, Machado-de-Ávila RA, McCormack J, Minozzo JC, Kalapothakis E, Chávez-Olórtegui C.A chimeric protein (rCpLi) was constructed expressing three epitopes of rLiD1, a dermonecrotic toxin from the venom of Loxosceles intermedia spider. We have analyzed the neutralization potential of sera obtained by immunization of horses with rCpLi and rCpLi combined with initial doses of venoms and compared these with antivenom traditionally produced in horses using crude Loxosceles gaucho, Loxosceles laeta and L. intermedia venoms as antigens. We have demonstrated by ELISA that horses immunized with three initial doses of crude venom containing mixtures of L. intermedia, L. gaucho and L. lae...
Lulla V, Losada A, Lecollinet S, Kerviel A, Lilin T, Sailleau C, Beck C, Zientara S, Roy P.African horse sickness virus (AHSV) is an orbivirus, a member of the Reoviridae family. Nine different serotypes have been described so far. AHSV is vectored by Culicoides spp. to equids, causing high mortality, particularly in horses, with considerable economic impacts. For development of a safe attenuated vaccine, we previously established an efficient reverse genetics (RG) system to generate Entry Competent Replication-Abortive (ECRA) virus strains, for all nine serotypes and demonstrated the vaccine potential of these strains in type I interferon receptor (IFNAR)-knockout mice. Here, we ev...
Olsen CW.The influenza virus vaccines that are commercially-available for humans, horses and pigs in the United States are inactivated, whole-virus or subunit vaccines. While these vaccines may decrease the incidence and severity of clinical disease, they do not consistently provide complete protection from virus infection. DNA vaccines are a novel alternative to conventional vaccination strategies, and offer many of the potential benefits of live virus vaccines without their risks. In particular, because immunogens are synthesized de novo within DNA transfected cells, antigen can be presented by MHC c...
Woolcock JB.A cell wall component of Streptococcus equi analogous to the M protein of group A streptococci has been identified and purified. A highly purified product has been obtained from cells by hot acid extraction, followed by acid precipitation, ammonium sulfate fractionation, and column chromatography. This product reacts with S. equi antiserum. The existence of this fraction in S. equi has been confirmed by the failure of trypsin-treated cells and their extracts to remove the long-chaining capacity of S. equi antiserum. The antigenicity of this M-like protein when incorporated in adjuvant has been...
Muirhead TL, McClure JT, Wichtel JJ, Stryhn H, Frederick Markham RJ, McFarlane D, Lunn DP.The proportion of geriatric horses within the equine population has increased in the past decade, but there is limited information on the immune function of these animals. Objective: Aged horses will have a lesser increase in serum antibody response to vaccination. Methods: Thirty-four aged healthy horses (> or = 20 years) and 29 younger adult horses (4-12 years) of various breeds. Methods: All horses were vaccinated with vaccines of killed rabies and influenza virus. Horses in each age group were allocated to receive either rabies or influenza booster vaccine 4 weeks after the initial vaccina...
The Journal of heredityNovember 5, 1997
Volume 88, Issue 5 384-392 doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a023123
Allen WR, Short RV.Equids possess the unusual ability to interbreed freely among the phenotypically and karyotypically diverse member species of the genus to produce viable, but usually infertile, offspring. The mule (female horse x male donkey) was humanity's first successful attempt at genetic engineering and its clear expression of both parental phenotypes has contributed much to our understanding of genetic inheritance over the centuries. Even more surprising, mares and donkeys have been shown to be capable of carrying to term a range of true, xenogeneic extraspecies pregnancies created by embryo transfer, i...
Meehan M, Nowlan P, Owen P.Cell-wall-associated proteins from Streptococcus equi subsp. equi, the causative agent of strangles, were analysed with a view to identifying a potential protective antigen. Preparations of these proteins, isolated from mutanolysin extracts of cell walls, were shown to contain one major high-M(r) protein species (apparent M(r) 220,000 and 550,000 when analysed by SDS-PAGE and gel-filtration chromatography, respectively). The high-M(r) protein bound horse fibrinogen and was purified under non-denaturing conditions using fibrinogen affinity chromatography. The fibrinogen-binding protein (FgBP) r...
Trapp S, von Einem J, Hofmann H, Köstler J, Wild J, Wagner R, Beer M, Osterrieder N.Key problems using viral vectors for vaccination and gene therapy are antivector immunity, low transduction efficiencies, acute toxicity, and limited capacity to package foreign genetic information. It could be demonstrated that animal and human cells were efficiently transduced with equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) reconstituted from viral DNA maintained and manipulated in Escherichia coli. Between 13 and 23% of primary human CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD11b+, and CD19+ cells and more than 70% of CD4+ MT4 cells or various human tumor cell lines (MeWo, Huh7, HeLa, 293T, or H1299) could be transduced with o...
Stone-Marschat MA, Moss SR, Burrage TG, Barber ML, Roy P, Laegreid WW.Horses were immunized by inoculation with a vaccinia construct containing a full-length cDNA corresponding to the L2 gene segment of African horsesickness virus type 4(AHSV-4). All immunized horses developed serum neutralizing antibodies prior to challenge with virulent AHSV-4. No ELISA-reactive antibodies were present prior to challenge. A group of four seronegative control horses died after developing clinical signs and lesions typical of the pulmonary form of African horsesickness while the immunized horses were clinically normal. Increases in serum neutralizing and ELISA-reactive antibody ...
Weyer CT, Quan M, Joone C, Lourens CW, MacLachlan NJ, Guthrie AJ.To determine whether subclinical cases, together with clinical cases, of African horse sickness (AHS) occur in immunised horses in field conditions, whole blood samples were collected and rectal temperatures recorded weekly from 50 Nooitgedacht ponies resident in open camps at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, during 2008-2010. The samples were tested for the presence of African horse sickness virus (AHSV) RNA by a recently developed real-time RT-PCR. It was shown that 16% of immunised horses in an AHS endemic area were infected with AHSV over a 2 year p...
Fine DL, Jenkins E, Martin SS, Glass P, Parker MD, Grimm B.A multisystem approach was used to assess the efficiency of several methods for inactivation of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) vaccine candidates. A combination of diverse assays (plaque, in vitro cytopathology and mouse neurovirulence) was used to verify virus inactivation, along with the use of a specific ELISA to measure retention of VEEV envelope glycoprotein epitopes in the development of several inactivated VEEV candidate vaccines derived from an attenuated strain of VEEV (V3526). Incubation of V3526 aliquots at temperatures in excess of 64 degrees C for periods >30 min i...
Guss B, Flock M, Frykberg L, Waller AS, Robinson C, Smith KC, Flock JI.Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (S. equi) is a clonal, equine host-adapted pathogen of global importance that causes a suppurative lymphodendopathy of the head and neck, more commonly known as Strangles. The disease is highly prevalent, can be severe and is highly contagious. Antibiotic treatment is usually ineffective. Live attenuated vaccine strains of S. equi have shown adverse reactions and they suffer from a short duration of immunity. Thus, a safe and effective vaccine against S. equi is highly desirable. The bacterium shows only limited genetic diversity and an effective vaccine coul...
Baker DL, Powers JG, Ransom JI, McCann BE, Oehler MW, Bruemmer JE, Galloway NL, Eckery DC, Nett TM.Wildlife and humans are increasingly competing for resources worldwide, and a diverse, innovative, and effective set of management tools is needed. Controlling abundance of wildlife species that are simultaneously protected, abundant, competitive for resources, and in conflict with some stakeholders but beloved by others, is a daunting challenge. Free-ranging horses (Equus caballus) present such a conundrum and managers struggle for effective tools for regulating their abundance. Controlling reproduction of female horses presents a potential alternative. During 2009-2017, we determined the lon...
Duchamp G, Bour B, Combarnous Y, Palmer E.Injection of hCG (2000-2500 i.u., i.v.) to mares when a follicle reaches 35 mm induces ovulation between 24 and 48 h. However, repeated injections induce antibodies against hCG. We report attempts to induce ovulation without this inconvenience. We called 'response' an ovulation between 24 and 48 h after treatment. The typical response to hCG was obtained in 73% (N = 145) of treated mares. After immunization against hCG, the response (0%, N = 10) was less than in nonimmunized controls (100%, N = 9). Simultaneous injection of dexamethasone and hCG resulted in induction of ovulation (71%, N = 14)...
Waghmare A, Deopurkar RL, Salvi N, Khadilkar M, Kalolikar M, Gade SK.The use of adjuvant is of fundamental importance in vaccines formulations and antisera production. Currently selection and use of adjuvant systems in snake antivenom preparation has become a major issue in terms of animal welfare as well as economics. In order to minimize disadvantages associated with traditionally used Freund's adjuvant (FA) in equines and to produce potent polyvalent antivenom against four Indian snake venoms in minimum possible period, a comparison was made between various commercially available non-emulsion/emulsion based adjuvants like IMS 3012, ISA 206 and ISA 35 with In...
Jonsdottir S, Fettelschoss V, Olomski F, Talker SC, Mirkovitch J, Rhiner T, Birkmann K, Thoms F, Wagner B, Bachmann MF, Kündig TM, Marti E....： Insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) is an eosinophilic allergic dermatitis of horses caused by type I/IVb reactions against mainly bites. The vaccination of IBH-affected horses with equine IL-5 coupled to the Cucumber mosaic virus-like particle (eIL-5-CuMV) induces IL-5-specific auto-antibodies, resulting in a significant reduction in eosinophil levels in blood and clinical signs. the preclinical and clinical safety of the eIL-5-CuMV vaccine. The B cell responses were assessed by longitudinal measurement of IL-5- and CuMV-specific IgG in the serum and plasma of vaccinated and unvaccinate...
