ARS | Publication request: Humoral Immune Responses of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to Mycobacterium bovis BCG Vaccination and Experimental Challenge with M. bovis

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: August 3, 2008
Publication Date: August 3, 2008
Citation: Nol, P., Lyashchenko, K.P., Waters, W.R., Rhyan, J.C., Salman, M.D. 2008. Humoral Immune Responses of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to Mycobacterium bovis BCG Vaccination and Experimental Challenge with M. bovis. [abstract].

Technical Abstract: Monitoring serum antibody production kinetics to multiple mycobacterial antigens can be useful as a diagnostic tool for the detection of Mycobacterium bovis infection as well as for the characterization of disease progression and efficacy of intervention strategies in several species. In the present study, humoral immune responses to multiple M. bovis antigens by white-tailed deer vaccinated with BCG via oral (n=10) and parenteral routes (n=6) were evaluated over time after vaccination and after experimental challenge with virulent M. bovis and compared to those of unvaccinated deer (n=6). Antibody responses were evaluated using rapid test (RT), multiantigen print immunoassay (MAPIA), and immunoblot. The MAPIA and RT detected minimal to no antibody responses over baseline to multiple M. bovis antigens in vaccinated white-tailed deer after challenge. This observation was in contrast to the presence of more readily detectible antibody responses in non-vaccinated deer with more advanced disease. Immunoblot data were inconsistent, likely due to confounding responses elicited by exposure to environmental non-tuberculous mycobacteria, but did suggest the occurrence of unique antibody responses by certain vaccine groups to Ag85 and HSP70. These findings support further investigation into the potential use of antibody-based assays, such as MAPIA and RT, as ante-mortem tools to assess levels of disease progression in white-tailed deer in both controlled and field vaccine trials.