Protective immunity induced by oral vaccination with a recombinant Lactococcus lactis vaccine against H5Nx in chickens

BACKGROUND: The development of an influenza vaccine for poultry that provides broadly protective immunity against influenza H5Nx viruses is a challenging goal. RESULTS: Lactococcus lactis (L. lactis)/pNZ8149-HA1-M2 expressing hemagglutinin-1 (HA1) of A/chicken/Vietnam/NCVD-15A59/2015 (H5N6) and the conserved M2 gene of A/Vietnam/1203/2004 (H5N1) was generated. L. lactis/pNZ8149-HA1-M2 could induce significant humoral, mucosal and cell-mediated immune responses, as well as neutralization antibodies. Importantly, L. lactis/pNZ8149-HA1-M2 could prevent disease symptoms without significant weight loss and confer protective immunity in a chicken model against lethal challenge with divergent influenza H5Nx viruses, including H5N6 and H5N1. CONCLUSIONS: L. lactis/pNZ8149-HA1-M2 can serve as a promising vaccine candidate in poultry industry for providing protection against H5Nx virus infection in the field application. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12917-021-03109-z.