Vaccination against Streptococcus suis
Project overview
Participants
Additional info
More related research
Global goals
- 2. Zero hunger
- 3. Good health and well-being
- 12. Responsible consumption and production
Short summary
The aim of the project is to develop a recombinant fusion protein vaccine, to provide protection against the zoonotic bacterium Streptococcus suis. This microbe may cause severe disease in booth pigs and man.
Pigs are particularly vulnerable to this disease in the critical period immediately post-weaning, and therefore the possibility to vaccinate sows to allow the passive transfer of immunity provided via colostrum is investigated.
Streptococcus suis is a severe zoonotic pathogen affecting weaned piglets. No commercial vaccine that provides protection against Streptococcus suis is available. A prototype vaccine, tentatively called VASIP (Vaccine Against Streptococcus suis Infection in Pigs), composed of five recombinant fusion proteins, encompassing 23 different protein domains, has been contructed and studied.
Pregnant sows were vaccinated on three occasions: at 68, 47 and 19 days prior to farrowing, resulting in high antibody levels, both in sera and in colostrum. Antibodies were transferred to the litter via colostrum. The litters from VASIP-vaccinated and placebo-vaccinated sows were challenged intravenously with S. suis at four or seven weeks of age in two different arms of the study. Body temperature and clinical signs (demeanour, behavioural CNS, and mobility) of infection showed that piglets from vaccinated sows were significantly protected against Streptococcus suis infection in the 4-week-old group and that the incidence of severe clinical signs was lower in the 7-week-old group compared with piglets from placebo sows.
Future studies will address this aspect to optimise the potency of antibody responses induced by VASIP, enhancing their transfer to piglets to prolong protective immunity and maximise the cross-protective effects against diverse strains of Streptococcus suis.
Project participants:
- Sara Frosth (SLU)
- David Reddick (Mordun Scientific)
- Francesco Righetti (Karolinska Institutet)
- Joakim Bjerketorp (SLU)
- Karin Jacobsson (SLU)
- Birgitta Henriques-Normark (Karolinska Institutet)
- Magdalena Jacobson (SLU)
- Bengt Guss (SLU)
- Tim Wood (Karolinska Institutet)
- Lars Frykberg (SLU)
- Jan-Ingmar Flock (Karolinska Institutet)
- Andrew Waller (Intervacc AB)