Immune Protection in Animals: The Examples of Rinderpest and Foot-and-Mouth Disease

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Summary

Fading immune protection in farmed animals may present a problem, particularly in free-ranging animals in nomadic and transhumant pastoral systems, where animals are not readily available for large-scale blanket vaccination programmes. Two veterinary examples of fading immune protection are discussed: rinderpest and foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). Both are devastating viral diseases of cattle that have a huge impact on the farming economy. Both diseases can be controlled by vaccination, although the post-vaccination immunity afforded by the rinderpest vaccine is markedly different from that induced by FMD vaccines. These differences may in part explain the respective advancement of international eradication campaigns: while global eradication of rinderpest is imminent, FMD viruses are still actively circulating in many parts of the world.

Section snippets

Rinderpest Virus and Clinical Disease

Rinderpest is a viral disease of cattle that has a long history. The virus, a member of the Morbillivirus genus, mainly infects cattle (Bos taurus and Bos indicus). Morbidity is high, while the mortality rate is high with virulent strains, but variable with mild strains. A summary of the disease and the causative agent has been provided by the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) (http://www.oie.int/eng/maladies/fiches/a_A040.htm).

Clinical disease is easy to diagnose since infected animals

Foot-and-Mouth Disease Viruses

The case of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a very different story. FMD is one of the most contagious animal diseases and all wild and domestic cloven-hoofed animal species (artiodactyls) are susceptible to infection. FMD viruses belong to seven serotypes (A, O, C, Asia 1, Southern African Territories [SAT] 1, SAT 2 and SAT 3) and there are a plethora of antigenic variants within a given serotype (Table 1). Strains of different antigenic structure can co-circulate in a given region and there is

Conclusions

Thanks to the efficacy of the rinderpest tissue culture vaccine, the implementation of regional and national campaigns in Asia and, more importantly, in Africa through the PARC and PACE coordinated by the AU-IBAR, as well as the launching and development of the GREP, rinderpest has been progressively controlled. Through the successful combined global and local efforts, the worldwide eradication of rinderpest is expected to be announced by FAO and OIE in 2010. In contrast, FMD is unlikely to be

Conflict of Interest

The author was an invited speaker at the Merial European Comparative Vaccinology Symposium and received travel expenses and an honorarium for this presentation.

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