Open AccessA Modified Vaccinia Ankara Virus (MVA) Vaccine Expressing African Horse Sickness Virus (AHSV) VP2 Protects Against AHSV Challenge in an IFNAR −/− Mouse Model
Author(s) -
Javier CastilloOlivares,
Eva Calvo-Pinilla,
Isabel Casanova,
Katarzyna BachanekBankowska,
Rachael Chiam,
Sushila Maan,
J. M. Nieto,
Javier Ortego,
Peter P. C. Mertens
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0016503
Subject(s) - african horse sickness , virology , vaccinia , orbivirus , biology , virus , culicoides , modified vaccinia ankara , recombinant dna , zoology , reoviridae , genetics , rotavirus , gene
African horse sickness (AHS) is a lethal viral disease of equids, which is transmitted by Culicoides midges that become infected after biting a viraemic host. The use of live attenuated vaccines has been vital for the control of this disease in endemic regions. However, there are safety concerns over their use in non-endemic countries. Research efforts over the last two decades have therefore focused on developing alternative vaccines based on recombinant baculovirus or live viral vectors expressing structural components of the AHS virion. However, ethical and financial considerations, relating to the use of infected horses in high biosecurity installations, have made progress very slow. We have therefore assessed the potential of an experimental mouse-model for AHSV infection for vaccine and immunology research. We initially characterised AHSV infection in this model, then tested the protective efficacy of a recombinant vaccine based on modified vaccinia Ankara expressing AHS-4 VP2 (MVA-VP2).