Immunogenicity of the Oral Rabies Vaccine Strain SPBN GASGAS in Dogs Under Field Settings in Namibia

Umberto Molini; Rainer Hassel; Steffen Ortmann; Ad Vos; Malaika Loschke; Albertina Shilongo; Conrad M Freuling; Thomas Müller

doi:10.3389/fvets.2021.737250

Immunogenicity of the Oral Rabies Vaccine Strain SPBN GASGAS in Dogs Under Field Settings in Namibia

Front Vet Sci. 2021 Oct 25:8:737250. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.737250. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Umberto Molini¹, Rainer Hassel¹, Steffen Ortmann², Ad Vos², Malaika Loschke¹, Albertina Shilongo³, Conrad M Freuling⁴, Thomas Müller⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia.
² Ceva Innovation Center, Ceva Santé Animale, Dessau-Roßlau, Germany.
³ Directorate of Veterinary Services, Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, Windhoek, Namibia.
⁴ Institute of Molecular Virology and Cell Biology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, WHO Collaborating Centre for Rabies Surveillance and Research, OIE Reference Laboratory for Rabies, Riems, Germany.

Abstract

Dog-mediated rabies is endemic throughout Africa. While free-roaming dogs that play a crucial role in rabies transmission are often inaccessible for parenteral vaccination during mass dog vaccination campaigns, oral rabies vaccination (ORV) is considered to be a promising alternative to increase vaccination coverage in these hard-to-reach dogs. The acceptance of ORV as an efficient supplementary tool is still low, not least because of limited immunogenicity and field trial data in local dogs. In this study, the immunogenicity of the highly attenuated 3rd-generation oral rabies vaccine strain SPBN GASGAS in local free-roaming dogs from Namibia was assessed by determining the immune response in terms of seroconversion for up to 56 days post-vaccination. At two study sites, free-roaming dogs were vaccinated by administering the vaccine either by direct oral administration or via a vaccine-loaded egg bait. Pre- and post-vaccination blood samples were tested for rabies virus neutralizing as well as binding antibodies using standard serological assays. A multiple logistic regression (MLR) analysis was performed to determine a possible influence of study area, vaccination method, and vaccine dose on the seroconversion rate obtained. About 78% of the dogs vaccinated by the oral route seroconverted (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, ELISA), though the seroconversion as determined by a rapid fluorescence focus inhibition test (RFFIT) was much lower. None of the factors examined had a significant effect on the seroconversion rate. This study confirms the immunogenicity of the vaccine strain SPBN GASGAS and the potential utility of ORV for the control of dog-mediated rabies in African dogs.

Keywords: Africa; SPBN GASGAS; binding antibodies; dogs; neutralizing antibodies; oral vaccination; rabies.