Intrauterine Vaccines Administered with Semen Show Promise

A new approach being developed by VID0-InterVac for vaccinating sows and gilts to protect against a variety of diseases is showing promise

by Bruce Cochrane – FarmScape Online

Researchers with Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan are evaluating the delivery of intrauterine vaccines administered to sows and gilts along with the semen during artificial insemination.

Dr. Heather Wilson, a research scientist with VIDO-InterVac, says most diseases that impact the adult pig also impact pregnancies so this approach delivers vaccine directly to the uterus.

“Our current research is showing that indeed the intrauterine vaccine is having a positive protective effect against the weaner piglets for PEDv so, once they suckle, they show signs of protection”

 

“Ideally, we want to target diseases that impact pregnancy, so PRRS or parvovirus, circovirus, that kind of thing that impacts the health of the sow. We’re still in the process of developing those disease models in my lab.

“We targeted first, diseases that are actually impacting the offspring. We’ve got Lawsonia intracellularis which is a disease that impacts weaner piglets and we’ve also administered a vaccine for PEDv, so Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus and that usually impacts the piglets just a couple of days after birth. Those are the ones that we’re targeting now, just because we have those in-house.

“Actually our current research is showing that indeed the intrauterine vaccine is having a positive protective effect against the weaner piglets for PEDv so, once they suckle, they show signs of protection.

“It’s limited at this time but we’re delighted with the promise that it shows and we’re starting to see some protection against the PEDv as well.”

Dr. Wilson says it’s still early days but, with each trial, different configurations, including how much vaccine is administered, what adjuvants are used and which diseases are targeted are assessed and something new is learned each time.

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