Location: Food Safety and Enteric Pathogens Research
Project Number: 5030-31320-004-024-T
Project Type: Trust Fund Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: May 1, 2018
End Date: May 1, 2020
Objective:
Using samples from live-animals, evaluate cross-reactive antibody and T cell response elicited following vaccination with different vaccines to identify a surrogate of protection, both at local and systemic levels. This work is extended to include evaluation of immune responses following vaccination in the presence of maternal immunity specific to the vaccine antigen. Work also includes evaluation of lactogenic immunity – specifically, evaluation of immune responses (antibody and/or T cell responses) to vaccine antigen in sows and the transfer of such immunity to piglets through colostrum and/or milk.
Approach:
Samples (blood for sera and peripheral blood mononuclear cells; nasal wash; oral fluids) will be collected from vaccinated and nonvaccinated pigs and used in assays to evaluate cross-reactive antibody and cell-mediated immunity. Quantitative and qualitative assays will be used. Additional work includes the same measures but pigs will be vaccinated in the presence of maternal antibody. For this work, sows will be vaccinated and offspring will subsequently be vaccinated with the same antigen to evaluate differences in the immune response in the piglets under such conditions. Sows may be vaccinated with various vaccine platforms, including vaccines with different antigens, for the evaluation of immunity transferred from the sows to the piglets. For this work, blood, oral fluids and/or colostrum/milk samples from the sow will be used to evaluate antibody and/or T cell responses to the specific vaccine antigen; blood and oral fluids will be collected from the piglets to evaluate the transfer of maternal immunity.
