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Vaccination against Lucilia cuprina: The causative agent of sheep blowfly strike
Author(s) -
EAST IAIN J.,
EISEMANN CRAIG H.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
immunology and cell biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.999
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1440-1711
pISSN - 0818-9641
DOI - 10.1038/icb.1993.51
Subject(s) - lucilia cuprina , larva , biology , vaccination , calliphoridae , veterinary medicine , myiasis , immunization , infestation , biological pest control , microbiology and biotechnology , antigen , agronomy , ecology , virology , immunology , medicine
Summary The sheep blowfly, Lucilia cuprina , is responsible for over 80% of cases of blowfly strike in Australia and the tosses in production and sheep deaths due to flystrike exceed S200 million per annum. Traditional methods of control are becoming less effective because of the blowfly's resistance to insecticides and thus other methods of control are necessary. In general, sheep develop very little immunity to flystrike even after repeated infestation, however vaccination against L. cuprina has shown considerable potential for controlling flystrike. The most successful sources of antigens have been the larvae's secreted proteases and several extracts from gut or peritrophic membrane. Immunization with these antigens results in retardation of larval growth and in some cases larval mortality. On sheep immunized with peritrophic membrane extracts, the growth retardation appears to be caused by a blocking of the peritrophic membrane which results in the larvae being starved of nutrients. The prospects for vaccine development and the remaining barriers to be overcome are discussed.