A new vaccination regimen using adenovirus-vectored vaccine confers effective protection against African swine fever virus in swine

Emerg Microbes Infect. 2023 Dec;12(2):2233643. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2023.2233643.

Abstract

African swine fever (ASF) is an acute and highly contagious lethal infectious disease in swine that severely threatens the global pig industry. At present, a safe and efficacious vaccine is urgently required to prevent and control the disease. In this study, we evaluated the safety and immunogenicity of replication-incompetent type-2 adenoviruses carrying African swine fever virus (ASFV) antigens, namely CP204L (p30), E183L (p54), EP402R (CD2v), B646L (p72), and B602L (p72 chaperone). A vaccine cocktail delivered by simultaneous intramuscular (IM) and intranasal (IN) administration robustly elicited both systemic and mucosal immune responses against AFSV in mice and swine and provided highly effective protection against the circulating ASFV strain in farmed pigs. This multi-antigen cocktail vaccine was well tolerated in the vaccinated animals. No significant interference among antigens was observed. The combined IM and IN vaccination using this adenovirus-vectored antigen cocktail vaccine warrants further evaluation for providing safe and effective protection against ASFV infection and transmission.

Keywords: African swine fever virus; adenovirus; infection; mucosal immunity; swine; vaccine.

MeSH terms

  • Adenoviridae / genetics
  • Adenoviridae Infections*
  • Adenovirus Vaccines*
  • African Swine Fever Virus* / genetics
  • African Swine Fever* / prevention & control
  • Animals
  • Antigens, Viral / genetics
  • Mice
  • Swine
  • Vaccination
  • Viral Vaccines*

Substances

  • Adenovirus Vaccines
  • Antigens, Viral
  • Viral Vaccines

Grants and funding

This work was supported by project of Youth Innovation Promotion Association of CAS [grant number 2022361]; Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangzhou [grant number 202201010658]; Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Project [grant number 2021A1515110924]; State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease [grant number SKLRD-Z-202106, SKLRD-Z-202208].