Recombinant Paramyxovirus Type 1-Avian Influenza-H7 Virus as a Vaccine for Protection of Chickens Against Influenza and Newcastle Disease

• Published in: Avian diseases 2003-01, Vol.47 (s3), p.1047-1050
• Main Authors: Swayne, D. E, Suarez, D. L, Schultz-Cherry, S, Tumpey, T. M, King, D. J, Nakaya, T, Palese, P, Garcia-Sastre, A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies; antibody formation; avian influenza; Chick Embryo - virology; chicken; Chickens; genes; Genetic vectors; H7; hemagglutination; hemagglutinins; immunity; Immunization; Immunization - methods; Influenza A virus; Influenza A virus - immunology; Influenza in Birds - immunology; Influenza in Birds - prevention & control; Newcastle disease; Newcastle Disease - immunology; Newcastle Disease - prevention & control; Newcastle disease virus; Newcastle disease virus - immunology; Oral Presentations: Vaccines and Antibody-Based Diagnostics—Robert Eckroade; Poultry Diseases - immunology; Poultry Diseases - prevention & control; recombinant vaccines; seroconversion; Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms; Vaccination; vaccine; vaccine development; Vaccines and Antibody-Based Diagnostics; Vaccines, Synthetic - therapeutic use; Vero cells; Viral Vaccines - therapeutic use; Viruses
• ISSN: 0005-2086; 1938-4351; 1938-4351
• DOI: 10.1637/0005-2086-47.s3.1047

Current vaccines to prevent avian influenza rely upon labor-intensive parenteral injection. A more advantageous vaccine would be capable of administration by mass immunization methods such as spray or water vaccination. A recombinant vaccine (rNDV-AIV-H7) was constructed by using a lentogenic paramyxovirus type 1 vector (Newcastle disease virus [NDV] B1 strain) with insertion of the hemagglutinin (HA) gene from avian influenza virus (AIV) A/chicken/NY/13142-5/94 (H7N2). The recombinant virus had stable insertion and expression of the H7 AIV HA gene as evident by detection of HA expression via immunofluorescence in infected Vero cells. The rNDV-AIV-H7 replicated in 9–10 day embryonating chicken eggs and exhibited hemagglutinating activity from both NDV and AI proteins that was inhibited by antisera against both NDV and AIV H7. Groups of 2-week-old white Leghorn chickens were vaccinated with transfectant NDV vector (tNDV), rNDV-AIV-H7, or sterile allantoic fluid and were challenged 2 weeks later with viscerotropic velogenic NDV (vvNDV) or highly pathogenic (HP) AIV. The sham-vaccinated birds were not protected from vvNDV or HP AIV challenge. The transfectant NDV vaccine provided 70% protection for NDV challenge but did not protect against AIV challenge. The rNDV-AIV-H7 vaccine provided partial protection (40%) from vvNDV and HP AIV challenge. The serologic response was examined in chickens that received one or two immunizations of the rNDV-AIV-H7 vaccine. Based on hemagglutination inhibition and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests, chickens that received a vaccine boost seroconverted to AIV H7, but the serologic response was weak in birds that received only one vaccination. This demonstrates the potential for NDV for use as a vaccine vector in expressing AIV proteins.