The Vaccine Group (TVG), a University of Plymouth spinout company, has demonstrated outstanding results in a trial of its novel vaccine candidate for bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV).
BRSV is highly contagious cause of bovine respiratory disease, with estimates from the Pirbright Institute suggesting that it could present an annual cost to British farmers of £54 million, while the global figure could be as much as £5.6 billion.
In a trial conducted by the UK Government's Animal and Plant Health Agency, three to six-week-old calves were immunised intramuscularly with TVG's bovine herpesvirus-4 vaccine platform technology.
They were then challenged with BRSV and the results compared to a control group of infected, but unvaccinated, calves.
The vaccinated calves demonstrated immunity to the disease when measured by:
- Clinical disease: the vaccines prevented clinical disease with vaccinated calves showing no significant signs, including elevated temperatures, compared to the control group;
- Virus shedding: the primary route of BRSV transmission for infected animals is via nasal discharge, but vaccinated animals had no detectable BRSV in nasal swabs post-challenge;
- Lung pathology: lungs in the unvaccinated calves suffered significant lesions, while those in the vaccinated group had minimal changes.
The findings represent an important validation of the company's platform technology, and demonstrate for the first time that it can safely prevent a global livestock disease.
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