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Juste RA, Blanco-Vázquez C, Barral M, Prieto JM, Varela-Castro L, Lesellier S, Dave D, Sevilla IA, Martín Ezquerra AB, Adriaensen H, Herrero-García G, Garrido JM, Casais R, Balseiro A. Efficacy of heat-inactivated Mycobacterium bovis vaccine delivered to European badgers ( Meles meles) through edible bait. Heliyon 2023; 9:e19349. [PMID: 37662827 PMCID: PMC10474426 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19349] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Revised: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 08/19/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Badgers (Meles meles) are a major tuberculosis (TB) reservoir in Europe, with the potential to transmit infection to cattle. Here we assessed whether a recently described oral tuberculosis vaccine based on heat-inactivated Mycobacterium bovis (HIMB), delivered as edible baits, can protect badgers from infection. Eight badgers were given individually five baits, each one consisting of a ball of peanut butter, natural peanut and oat flakes including a dose of the vaccine containing 5 × 107 colony-forming units. In parallel, a control group of seven badgers did not receive the vaccine. One month and a half later a second dose of the vaccine was offered to the vaccinated group. Ninety-four days after the second dose, all badgers were challenged with M. bovis (103 colony-forming units per animal) delivered endobronchially to the right middle lung lobe. Clinical, immunological, pathological and bacteriological variables were measured throughout the whole study to assess the efficacy of the vaccine. Two vaccinated animals showed high bacterial load of M. bovis and worsening of pathological lesions of TB. Conversely, the other six vaccinated animals showed slight improvement in bacterial load and pathology with respect to the control group. These results suggest that delivering the TB vaccine via food bait can partially protect wild badger populations, although vaccination can lead to either protection or tolerization, likely depending on the animal's immune status and general condition at the time of vaccination. Further optimization of the vaccination trial/strategy is needed to reduce the rate of tolerization, such as altering vaccine dose, number of doses, type of bait, use of adjuvants or route of administration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ramón A. Juste
- Animal Health Department, NEIKER-Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development. Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), 48160, Derio (Bizkaia), Spain
| | - Cristina Blanco-Vázquez
- Centro de Biotecnología Animal, Servicio Regional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agroalimentario (SERIDA), 33394, Asturias, Spain
| | - Marta Barral
- Animal Health Department, NEIKER-Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development. Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), 48160, Derio (Bizkaia), Spain
| | - José Miguel Prieto
- Centro de Biotecnología Animal, Servicio Regional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agroalimentario (SERIDA), 33394, Asturias, Spain
| | - Lucía Varela-Castro
- Animal Health Department, NEIKER-Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development. Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), 48160, Derio (Bizkaia), Spain
| | - Sandrine Lesellier
- Nancy Laboratory for Rabies and Wildlife, Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire de l'Alimentation, de l'Environnement et du Travail (ANSES), 54220, Malzéville, France
| | - Dipesh Dave
- Bacteriology Department, Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA, Weybridge), KT15 3NB, Surrey, United Kingdom
| | - Iker A. Sevilla
- Animal Health Department, NEIKER-Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development. Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), 48160, Derio (Bizkaia), Spain
| | - Ana Belén Martín Ezquerra
- Unidad de Inmunología Microbiana, Centro Nacional de Microbiología, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, 28220, Madrid, Spain
| | - Hans Adriaensen
- PIXANIM Plateform, Service Imagerie, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (INRAE), UMR PR China, Val-de-Loire, 37380, Nouzilly, France
| | - Gloria Herrero-García
- Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de León, 24071, León, Spain
| | - Joseba M. Garrido
- Animal Health Department, NEIKER-Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development. Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), 48160, Derio (Bizkaia), Spain
| | - Rosa Casais
- Centro de Biotecnología Animal, Servicio Regional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agroalimentario (SERIDA), 33394, Asturias, Spain
| | - Ana Balseiro
- Departamento de Sanidad Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de León, 24071, León, Spain
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