The Immunogenicity of a Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Serotype O Vaccine in Commercial and Subsistence Cattle Herds in Zambia

Frank Banda; Anna B Ludi; Ginette Wilsden; Clare Browning; Henry L Kangwa; Lynnfield Mooya; Masuzyo Ngoma; Geoffrey M Muuka; Cornelius Mundia; Paul Fandamu; David J Paton; Donald P King; Melvyn Quan

doi:10.3390/vaccines11121818

The Immunogenicity of a Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Serotype O Vaccine in Commercial and Subsistence Cattle Herds in Zambia

Vaccines (Basel). 2023 Dec 5;11(12):1818. doi: 10.3390/vaccines11121818.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Central Veterinary Research Institute, Lusaka 10101, Zambia.
² Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0110, South Africa.
³ The Pirbright Institute, Pirbright GU24 0NF, UK.
⁴ Department of Veterinary Services, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Lusaka 10101, Zambia.

Abstract

The recent introduction of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus serotype O (O/EA-2 topotype) in Southern Africa has changed the epidemiology of the disease and vaccine requirements of the region. Commercial and subsistence cattle herds in Zambia were vaccinated with an FMD virus serotype O Manisa vaccine according to a double- or single-dose vaccination schedule. Heterologous antibody responses induced by this vaccine against a representative O/EA-2 virus from Zambia were determined. Virus neutralisation tests (VNTs) showed double-dosed cattle had a mean reciprocal log virus neutralisation titre of 2.02 (standard error [SE] = 0.16, n = 9) for commercial herds and 1.65 (SE = 0.17, n = 5) for subsistence herds 56 days after the first vaccination (dpv). Significantly lower mean titres were observed for single-dosed commercial herds (0.90, SE = 0.08, n = 9) and subsistence herds (1.15, SE = 0.18, n = 3) 56 dpv. A comparison of these results and those generated by solid-phase competitive ELISA (SPCE) tests showed a statistically significant positive correlation by Cohen's kappa coefficient. Therefore, SPCE might be used in assessing the immunogenicity of vaccines in place of VNT. Furthermore, for this vaccine and field strain, a vaccination regime employing a two-dose primary course and revaccination after 4-6 months is likely to be appropriate.

Keywords: field evaluation; foot-and-mouth disease; immunogenicity; vaccine.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Government of Zambia through the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Department of Veterinary. The work of the WRLFMD is supported by the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra; UK), and funding provided by the European Union (via a contract from EuFMD, Rome, Italy). The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union. The Pirbright Institute receives grant-aided support from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council of the United Kingdom (projects BB/X011038/1, BB/X011046/1 and BBS/E/PI/23NB0004).