The Development of Dual Vaccines against Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) and Bovine Ephemeral Fever (BEF).
Nicola Douglass, Ruzaiq Omar, Henry Munyanduki, Akiko Suzuki, Warren de Moor, Paidamwoyo Mutowembwa, Alri Pretorius, Tshifhiwa Nefefe, Antoinette van Schalkwyk, Pravesh Kara, Livio Heath, Anna-Lise Williamson
Author Information
Nicola Douglass: Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa. ORCID
Ruzaiq Omar: Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa.
Henry Munyanduki: Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa.
Akiko Suzuki: Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa. ORCID
Warren de Moor: Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa.
Paidamwoyo Mutowembwa: Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, ARC, Pretoria 0110, South Africa. ORCID
Alri Pretorius: Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, ARC, Pretoria 0110, South Africa.
Tshifhiwa Nefefe: Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, ARC, Pretoria 0110, South Africa.
Antoinette van Schalkwyk: Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, ARC, Pretoria 0110, South Africa. ORCID
Pravesh Kara: Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, ARC, Pretoria 0110, South Africa.
Livio Heath: Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, ARC, Pretoria 0110, South Africa.
Anna-Lise Williamson: Division of Medical Virology, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa. ORCID
Dual vaccines ( = 6) against both lumpy skin disease (LSD) and bovine ephemeral fever (BEF) were constructed, based on the BEFV glycoprotein (G) gene, with or without the BEFV matrix (M) protein gene, inserted into one of two different LSDV backbones, nLSDV∆SOD-UCT or nLSDVSODis-UCT. The inserted gene cassettes were confirmed by PCR; and BEFV protein was shown to be expressed by immunofluorescence. The candidate dual vaccines were initially tested in a rabbit model; neutralization assays using the South African BEFV vaccine (B-Phemeral) strain showed an African consensus G protein gene (Gb) to give superior neutralization compared to the Australian (Ga) gene. The two LSDV backbones expressing both Gb and M BEFV genes were tested in cattle and shown to elicit neutralizing responses to LSDV as well as BEFV after two inoculations 4 weeks apart. The vaccines were safe in cattle and all vaccinated animals were protected against virulent LSDV challenge, unlike a group of control naïve animals, which developed clinical LSD. Both neutralizing and T cell responses to LSDV were stimulated upon challenge. After two inoculations, all vaccinated animals produced BEFV neutralizing antibodies ≥ 1/20, which is considered protective for BEF.
