Antibody response to equine coronavirus in horses inoculated with a bovine coronavirus vaccine

J Vet Med Sci. 2017 Nov 17;79(11):1889-1891. doi: 10.1292/jvms.17-0414. Epub 2017 Oct 6.

Abstract

A vaccine for equine coronavirus (ECoV) is so far unavailable. Bovine coronavirus (BCoV) is antigenically related to ECoV; it is therefore possible that BCoV vaccine will induce antibodies against ECoV in horses. This study investigated antibody response to ECoV in horses inoculated with BCoV vaccine. Virus neutralization tests showed that antibody titers against ECoV increased in all six horses tested at 14 days post inoculation, although the antibody titers were lower against ECoV than against BCoV. This study showed that BCoV vaccine provides horses with antibodies against ECoV to some extent. It is unclear whether antibodies provided by BCoV vaccine are effective against ECoV, and therefore ECoV challenge studies are needed to evaluate efficacy of the vaccine in the future.

Keywords: bovine coronavirus; equine coronavirus; horses; vaccine.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Viral
  • Antibody Formation
  • Betacoronavirus 1 / immunology*
  • Coronavirus Infections / prevention & control
  • Coronavirus Infections / veterinary*
  • Coronavirus, Bovine / immunology*
  • Horse Diseases / immunology*
  • Horse Diseases / prevention & control
  • Horse Diseases / virology*
  • Horses
  • Vaccination / veterinary*
  • Vaccines / immunology

Substances

  • Antibodies, Viral
  • Vaccines