Open AccessSafety, efficacy and immunogenicity evaluation of the SAG2 oral rabies vaccine in Formosan ferret badgers
Author(s) -
Ao Lin Hsu,
Chih–Wei Tseng,
J Barrat,
Shu-Hwae Lee,
Yu-Hua Shih,
Marine Wasniewski,
Philippe Mähl,
ChiaChia Chang,
Chun-Ta Lin,
Re-Shang Chen,
Wen-Jane Tu,
Florence Cliquet,
HsiangJung Tsai
Publication year - 2017
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.0184831
Subject(s) - rabies , vaccination , rabies vaccine , immunogenicity , case fatality rate , rabies virus , virology , medicine , veterinary medicine , antibody , immunology , epidemiology
Since 2013, rabies cases have been reported among Formosan ferret badgers in Taiwan, and they have been shown to be the major reservoirs for Taiwanese enzootics. To control and eradicate rabies, the authorities plan to implement a vaccination programme. Before distributing live vaccines in the field, this study assessed the safety, efficacy, and immunogenicity of SAG2 vaccine on ferret badgers by direct oral instillation. After application of 10 9 TCID 50 /dose, no virus was excreted into the oral cavity 1–7 days post-application, and safety was also satisfactorily verified over a 266-day period. Moreover, despite the low level of rabies virus neutralising antibodies induced after vaccination of a 10 8 TCID 50 /dose, the efficacy assessment revealed a 100% survival rate (15/15) of vaccinees and an 87.5% fatality rate (7/8) in control animals after a challenge on the 198th day post-vaccination. The immunisation and protection rates obtained more than 6 months after a single vaccination dose demonstrated that SAG2 is an ideal vaccine candidate to protect Formosan ferret badgers against rabies in Taiwan.