Cargando…

Impact of Coxiella burnetii vaccination on humoral immune response, vaginal shedding, and lamb mortality in naturally pre-infected sheep

INTRODUCTION: Sheep are considered to be one of the main reservoirs for Coxiella burnetii, a gram-negative bacterium with high zoonotic potential. Infected sheep shed tremendous amounts of the pathogen through birth products which caused human Q fever epidemics in several countries. Information abou...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Bauer, Benjamin Ulrich, Schoneberg, Clara, Herms, Thea Louise, Kleinschmidt, Sven, Runge, Martin, Ganter, Martin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9807230/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36601330
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.1064763
_version_ 1784862677697298432
author Bauer, Benjamin Ulrich
Schoneberg, Clara
Herms, Thea Louise
Kleinschmidt, Sven
Runge, Martin
Ganter, Martin
author_facet Bauer, Benjamin Ulrich
Schoneberg, Clara
Herms, Thea Louise
Kleinschmidt, Sven
Runge, Martin
Ganter, Martin
author_sort Bauer, Benjamin Ulrich
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Sheep are considered to be one of the main reservoirs for Coxiella burnetii, a gram-negative bacterium with high zoonotic potential. Infected sheep shed tremendous amounts of the pathogen through birth products which caused human Q fever epidemics in several countries. Information about the impact of an inactivated C. burnetii Phase I vaccine on humoral immune response, vaginal shedding, and lamb mortality in naturally pre-infected sheep is scarce. METHODS: Two identically managed and naturally C. burnetii-infected sheep flocks were examined for two lambing seasons (2019 and 2020). One flock (VAC) received a primary vaccination against Q fever before mating and the second flock served as control (CTR). In each flock, one cohort of 100 ewes was included in follow-up investigations. Serum samples at eight different sampling dates were analyzed by C. burnetii phase-specific ELISAs to differentiate between the IgG Phase I and II responses. Vaginal swabs were collected within three days after parturition and examined by a C. burnetii real-time PCR (IS1111). Lamb losses were recorded to calculate lamb mortality parameters. RESULTS: After primary vaccination, almost all animals from cohort VAC showed a high IgG Phase I response up until the end of the study period. In cohort CTR, the seropositivity rate varied from 35.1% to 66.3%, and the Phase I and Phase II pattern showed an undulating trend with higher IgG Phase II activity during both lambing seasons. The number of vaginal shedders was significantly reduced in cohort VAC compared to cohort CTR during the lambing season in 2019 (p < 0.0167). There was no significant difference of vaginal shedders in 2020. The total lamb losses were low in both cohorts during the two investigated lambing seasons (VAC 2019: 6.8%, 2020: 3.2%; CTR 2019: 1.4%, 2020: 2.7%). DISCUSSION: Neither the C. burnetii vaccine nor the C. burnetii infection seem to have an impact on lamb mortality. Taken together, the inactivated C. burnetii Phase I vaccine induced a strong IgG Phase I antibody response in naturally pre-infected sheep. It might also reduce vaginal shedding in the short term but seems to have little beneficial impact on lamb mortality.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9807230
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-98072302023-01-03 Impact of Coxiella burnetii vaccination on humoral immune response, vaginal shedding, and lamb mortality in naturally pre-infected sheep Bauer, Benjamin Ulrich Schoneberg, Clara Herms, Thea Louise Kleinschmidt, Sven Runge, Martin Ganter, Martin Front Vet Sci Veterinary Science INTRODUCTION: Sheep are considered to be one of the main reservoirs for Coxiella burnetii, a gram-negative bacterium with high zoonotic potential. Infected sheep shed tremendous amounts of the pathogen through birth products which caused human Q fever epidemics in several countries. Information about the impact of an inactivated C. burnetii Phase I vaccine on humoral immune response, vaginal shedding, and lamb mortality in naturally pre-infected sheep is scarce. METHODS: Two identically managed and naturally C. burnetii-infected sheep flocks were examined for two lambing seasons (2019 and 2020). One flock (VAC) received a primary vaccination against Q fever before mating and the second flock served as control (CTR). In each flock, one cohort of 100 ewes was included in follow-up investigations. Serum samples at eight different sampling dates were analyzed by C. burnetii phase-specific ELISAs to differentiate between the IgG Phase I and II responses. Vaginal swabs were collected within three days after parturition and examined by a C. burnetii real-time PCR (IS1111). Lamb losses were recorded to calculate lamb mortality parameters. RESULTS: After primary vaccination, almost all animals from cohort VAC showed a high IgG Phase I response up until the end of the study period. In cohort CTR, the seropositivity rate varied from 35.1% to 66.3%, and the Phase I and Phase II pattern showed an undulating trend with higher IgG Phase II activity during both lambing seasons. The number of vaginal shedders was significantly reduced in cohort VAC compared to cohort CTR during the lambing season in 2019 (p < 0.0167). There was no significant difference of vaginal shedders in 2020. The total lamb losses were low in both cohorts during the two investigated lambing seasons (VAC 2019: 6.8%, 2020: 3.2%; CTR 2019: 1.4%, 2020: 2.7%). DISCUSSION: Neither the C. burnetii vaccine nor the C. burnetii infection seem to have an impact on lamb mortality. Taken together, the inactivated C. burnetii Phase I vaccine induced a strong IgG Phase I antibody response in naturally pre-infected sheep. It might also reduce vaginal shedding in the short term but seems to have little beneficial impact on lamb mortality. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-12-19 /pmc/articles/PMC9807230/ /pubmed/36601330 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.1064763 Text en Copyright © 2022 Bauer, Schoneberg, Herms, Kleinschmidt, Runge and Ganter. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Veterinary Science
Bauer, Benjamin Ulrich
Schoneberg, Clara
Herms, Thea Louise
Kleinschmidt, Sven
Runge, Martin
Ganter, Martin
Impact of Coxiella burnetii vaccination on humoral immune response, vaginal shedding, and lamb mortality in naturally pre-infected sheep
title Impact of Coxiella burnetii vaccination on humoral immune response, vaginal shedding, and lamb mortality in naturally pre-infected sheep
title_full Impact of Coxiella burnetii vaccination on humoral immune response, vaginal shedding, and lamb mortality in naturally pre-infected sheep
title_fullStr Impact of Coxiella burnetii vaccination on humoral immune response, vaginal shedding, and lamb mortality in naturally pre-infected sheep
title_full_unstemmed Impact of Coxiella burnetii vaccination on humoral immune response, vaginal shedding, and lamb mortality in naturally pre-infected sheep
title_short Impact of Coxiella burnetii vaccination on humoral immune response, vaginal shedding, and lamb mortality in naturally pre-infected sheep
title_sort impact of coxiella burnetii vaccination on humoral immune response, vaginal shedding, and lamb mortality in naturally pre-infected sheep
topic Veterinary Science
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9807230/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36601330
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.1064763
work_keys_str_mv AT bauerbenjaminulrich impactofcoxiellaburnetiivaccinationonhumoralimmuneresponsevaginalsheddingandlambmortalityinnaturallypreinfectedsheep
AT schonebergclara impactofcoxiellaburnetiivaccinationonhumoralimmuneresponsevaginalsheddingandlambmortalityinnaturallypreinfectedsheep
AT hermsthealouise impactofcoxiellaburnetiivaccinationonhumoralimmuneresponsevaginalsheddingandlambmortalityinnaturallypreinfectedsheep
AT kleinschmidtsven impactofcoxiellaburnetiivaccinationonhumoralimmuneresponsevaginalsheddingandlambmortalityinnaturallypreinfectedsheep
AT rungemartin impactofcoxiellaburnetiivaccinationonhumoralimmuneresponsevaginalsheddingandlambmortalityinnaturallypreinfectedsheep
AT gantermartin impactofcoxiellaburnetiivaccinationonhumoralimmuneresponsevaginalsheddingandlambmortalityinnaturallypreinfectedsheep