| Contributors: |
Gaetano Federico Ronchi, Mariangela Iorio, Marco Caporale, Anna Serroni, Lilia Testa, Cristiano Palucci, Daniela Antonucci, Sara Capista, Sara Traini, Chiara Pinoni, Ivano Di Matteo, Caterina Laguardia, Gisella Armillotta, Francesca Profeta, Fabrizia Valleriani, Elisabetta Di Felice, Giovanni Di Teodoro, Flavio Sacchini, Mirella Luciani, Chiara Di Pancrazio, Michele Podaliri Vulpiani, Emanuela Rossi, Romolo Salini, Daniela Morelli, Nicola Ferri, Maria Teresa Mercante, Mauro Di Ventura; Federico Ronchi, Gaetano; Iorio, Mariangela; Caporale, Marco; Serroni, Anna; Testa, Lilia; Palucci, Cristiano; Antonucci, Daniela; Capista, Sara; Traini, Sara; Pinoni, Chiara; DI MATTEO, Ivano; Laguardia, Caterina; Armillotta, Gisella; Profeta, Francesca; Valleriani, Fabrizia; DI FELICE, Elisabetta; DI TEODORO, Giovanni; Sacchini, Flavio; Luciani, Mirella; DI PANCRAZIO, Chiara; Podaliri Vulpiani, Michele; Rossi, Emanuela; Salini, Romolo; Morelli, Daniela; Ferri, Nicola; Teresa Mercante, Maria; Di Ventura, Mauro |
| Description: |
Lumpy skin virus (Poxviridae family - Capripoxvirus genus) is the aetiological agent of LSD, a disease primarily transmitted by hematophagous biting, affecting principally cattle. Currently, only live attenuated vaccines are commercially available but their use is limited to the endemic areas. There is a need for safer vaccines, especially in LSD-free countries. The research aims to develop and test a safe and efficacious inactivated vaccine. Moreover, in this study we used keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) as a positive marker to distinguish infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA). Lumpy skin disease virus was amplified on primary lamb testis cells and Madin-Darby bovine kidney cells (PLT and MDBK respectively), and four inactivated vaccines were produced. The vaccines differed from each other in the addition or not of KLH and in cells used for virus amplification. To evaluate the safety and immunogenicity, the vaccines and placebos were administered to 6 groups of 6 male calves and antibody response was investigated in both enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and serum neutralization (SN) test. In addition, LSD/Υ-interferon test and KLH (IgM-IgG) ELISA were performed on the collected samples. Furthermore, the use of KLH allowed to distinguish vaccinated animal throughout an ELISA. At the same time, the exogenous protein does not interfere with the strength of the immune response against the LSDV antigen. Together, the efficacy of one of four vaccines was investigated through a challenge, in which four out of six control animals were euthanized for overcoming the predetermined limit of clinical score. The vaccines produced were safe and able to elicit both a humoral and a cellular immune response. These characteristics, together with the demonstrated efficacy, make our vaccine a good candidate for contrasting the LSD spread in free countries, making the disease containment easier also throughout the application of a DIVA strategy. |