Protection of Brucella abortus RB51 revaccinated cows, introduced in a herd with active Brucellosis, with presence of atypical humoral response

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Abstract

It is a dogma, that RB51 vaccination does not induce antibodies that interfere with Brucellosis diagnosis, therefore any animal positive to serological test is considered as an infected animal. To determine protection against Brucellosis virulent field strain, 35 pregnant cows from a free-Brucellosis herd, previously vaccinated as calves with 1×1010 CFU of RB51, were revaccinated with RB51 reduced dose, and then introduced into a herd with an active outbreak. Seventeen cows resulted positive in card test after revaccination. All 35 pregnant revaccinated cows had normal parturition; nevertheless, RB51 vaccine strain was isolated from milk and vaginal exudates from two cows after delivery at day 120 post-revaccination. At 150 days post-revaccination, two cows were positives to card and rivanol test and the field virulent strain was isolated. Revaccination with a reduced dose of RB51 in endemic zones did not cause abortion and protected 94%of animals against field infection, but caused an atypical response to conventional serological tests.

Résumé

C'est un dogme que la vaccination avec la souche RB51 n'entraîne pas la formation d'anticorps, interféreront avec le diagnostic de la Brucellose. De ce fait, tout animal positif aux tests sérologiques conventionnels sera considéré comme infecté. Dans le but de déterminer la protection obtenue contre la souche virulente, 35 vaches gestantes et préalablement vaccinées en tant que veaux, ont été revaccinées avec une dose réduite de RB51 et introduites dans un troupeau infecté par la Brucellose. 17% des vaches ont présenté des tests positifs après la vaccination. Les 35 vaches ont mis bas normalement; néanmoins, la souche vaccinale RB51 a été isolée dans le lait et les sécrétions vaginales de deux vaches. Cent cinquante jours après la revaccination, deux vaches ont présenté des tests sérologiques positifs et la souche virulente a été isolée. Les vaches revaccinées avec la dose réduite de RB51 n'ont pas connu d'avortements, et 94% d'entre elles ont été protégées contre la souche virulente. Cependant, une réponse sérologique atypique a été observée.

Introduction

Brucella is an intracellular gram-negative bacterium that causes Brucellosis in domestic and wild mammals; this disease is an important public health problem and can cause large economic losses in the farming industry.

Brucella abortus RB51 is a stable rough, attenuated mutant vaccine derived from the virulent strain 2308, the wboA gene in smooth B. abortus results in rough attenuated mutants which fail to produce the O polysaccharide chain [1]. The lack of the O chain of the LPS allows repeated use of RB51 vaccine without inducing antibodies that interfere with the serological diagnosis, due to this fact any positive reaction to standard tests is considered an infected animal [2].

The vaccination with reduced dose of RB51 protects adult cattle against abortion or infection caused by exposure to virulent B. abortus during the subsequent pregnancy [3]. The practice of vaccination and revaccination is permitted in endemic Brucellosis zones in Mexico, with the reduced dose of RB51 in females older than 8 months. Diagnosis is based on demonstration of specific antibodies to B. abortus antigen, the card test (CT) is for screening, rivanol test (RT), and complement fixation are used for confirmation. Serology and bacteriology combined, plus elimination of the infected animals from the herd reduces the incidence of this disease.

The objective of this work is to determine protection of RB51 reduced dose revaccination, against virulent B. abortus natural challenge in a herd with high Brucellosis prevalence and to determine if revaccinated cows had a response to serological tests.

Section snippets

Herds

Serum samples were collected from two cow herds in Mexico. Herd A. A Brucellosis-free herd of 160 Holstein-Friesian cows that has been monitored both by serology and milk culture repeatedly during the last 6 years. Herd B. A herd within a dairy area with endemic Brucellosis of 500 Holstein-Friesian cows; which had a serological Brucellosis prevalence of 38% at moment of work started. Vaccination and revaccination with B. abortus RB51 is routinely practiced in this herd.

Cattle and vaccination

In the Brucellosis free

Results

In herd A, the 35 vaccinated cows were CT and RT negatives until 405 days post-vaccination. The same serological tests were also negative for herd A total population. For the DTH at 350 post-vaccination day, 91% of 35 vaccinated animals were positives and 20 control group bovines were all negatives.

Once in herd B, the serum samples from 35 revaccinated cows at days 30, 60, 90 and 120 after revaccination, had up to 17% of positive results to CT, but all negatives to RT (Fig. 1). These cows

Discussion

It is well known that RB51 vaccination does not interfere with conventional serological techniques [2], [8]. In Brucellosis free herds, vaccination with a reduced dose of RB51 protects adult cattle against infection caused by exposure to virulent B. abortus. In previous experiments, all cows vaccinated with standard dose of RB51 remained seronegative to the tube agglutination test, but in the Dot-blot assay, vaccinated cattle had a detectable immune responses, although decline after 10 weeks

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grant from CONACYT Mexico Grant: 36142 B. We thank Gerardo Flores-Gutiérrez for critically reading the manuscript.

References (20)

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