Study of homologous and heterologous antibody response in California horses vaccinated with attenuated Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis vaccine (strain TC-83).
- Comparative Study
- Journal Article
- Research Support
- U.S. Gov't
- Non-P.H.S.
- Research Support
- U.S. Gov't
- P.H.S.
- Alphavirus
- Antibodies
- Complement Fixation
- Disease control
- Disease Prevention
- Eastern Equine Encephalitis
- Epidemiology
- Equine Diseases
- Equine Health
- Hemagglutination Inhibition
- Horses
- Immunology
- Infectious Disease
- Serological Surveys
- Seroprevalence
- Vaccine
- Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis
- Veterinary Medicine
- Veterinary Research
- Western Equine Encephalitis
Summary
This study focuses on the effectiveness of the Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) vaccine in California horses and how the presence of antibodies to other alphaviruses can affect the VEE antibody formation.
Research Methodology
The research involved a sample of 359 horses, all of which were vaccinated with the attenuated VEE vaccine (specifically, the TC-83 strain). The researchers conducted several tests on these vaccinated horses:
- Hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) tests to detect antibodies to VEE virus
- Blood tests on a sub-sample of 101 horses, conducted over a 12-month period
- Tests to detect the presence of VEE-neutralizing (Nt) antibodies and VEE complement-fixing (CF) antibodies
Findings
Within a month of vaccination, the majority of the horses in the sub-sample showed significant developments of VEE HI antibodies (84%), VEE Nt antibodies (87%), and VEE CF antibodies (78%). However, these percentages declined after a year, with 58% of the horses retaining VEE HI antibodies and 73% retaining VEE Nt antibodies.
A key finding was that the VEE CF antibody titers decreased drastically to 46% within 6 months after vaccination, and most horses tested negative for these antibodies after a year.
Antibodies and VEE Antibody Formation
Intriguingly, the presence of antibodies to other alphaviruses like western or eastern equine encephalomyelitis, had a suppressing effect on the formation of VEE antibodies. Despite this, the research found that the number of horses which developed VEE antibodies still exceeded the level generally thought necessary to suppress a VEE outbreak in a horse population.
Hemagglutination-Inhibition Tests and Neutralisation Tests
The relationship between the Hemagglutination-Inhibition (HI) tests and the Neutralization (Nt) tests for VEE antibodies was also examined, with an 88% correlation found between the two. This high correlation suggests a strong relationship between these two types of VEE antibodies.
Cite This Article
Publication
Researcher Affiliations
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Antibodies, Viral / analysis
- Antibody Formation
- California
- Complement Fixation Tests
- Encephalitis Virus, Eastern Equine / immunology
- Encephalitis Virus, Venezuelan Equine / immunology
- Encephalitis Virus, Western Equine / immunology
- Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests
- Horses / immunology
- Neutralization Tests
- Vaccination / veterinary
- Vaccines, Attenuated
- Viral Vaccines
Citations
This article has been cited 2 times.- More S, Bøtner A, Butterworth A, Calistri P, Depner K, Edwards S, Garin-Bastuji B, Good M, Gortázar Schmidt C, Michel V, Miranda MA, Nielsen SS, Raj M, Sihvonen L, Spoolder H, Stegeman JA, Thulke HH, Velarde A, Willeberg P, Winckler C, Baldinelli F, Broglia A, Dhollander S, Beltrán-Beck B, Kohnle L, Morgado J, Bicout D. Assessment of listing and categorisation of animal diseases within the framework of the Animal Health Law (Regulation (EU) No 2016/429): Venezuelan equine encephalitis.. EFSA J 2017 Aug;15(8):e04950.
- Kinney RM, Esposito JJ, Mathews JH, Johnson BJ, Roehrig JT, Barrett AD, Trent DW. Recombinant vaccinia virus/Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) virus protects mice from peripheral VEE virus challenge.. J Virol 1988 Dec;62(12):4697-702.
