Title: Efficacy studies of a brucellosis vaccine for domestic and feral swine
Funding Institution: USDA/NIFA Formula Animal Health
Description: In this project, we are exploring the use of a microencapsulation platform to deliver a live attenuated vaccine candidate for swine. Additionally, we are developing a diagnostic test that will differentiate infected from vaccinated animals. Brucella suis is the etiological agent of brucellosis in swine and it is characterized by abortions, stillbirths and infertility in sows and decreased fertility in boars. Brucellosis still remains endemic in domestic swine in South and Central America, Africa and Asia, but has essentially been eradicated from commercial swine in the US. Unfortunately, it remains endemic within the US feral swine (Sus scrofa) population with an alarming incidence of up to 14.4%, posing a significant risk of transmission of the disease not only to commercial swine but also to humans. Vaccination is the best way to control disease spread, by decreasing the proportion of susceptible animals in a population below a threshold needed for disease maintenance. Previous Formula Animal Health funding has allowed us to test the safety and correlates of protective immunity of the microencapsulated live attenuated vaccine candidate in pigs demonstrating the suitability, safety and potential use for swine. These studies will expand on those findings and will allow us to evaluate the efficacy against abortion of the vaccine candidate in the target host species.
