A novelexperimental model for zoonotic pathogen.

Abstract

Brucellosis is a major threat to public health and animal husbandry. Severalvertebrate models, such as mice, guinea pigs, and nonhuman primates, have been used to studypathogenesis, bacteria-host interactions, and vaccine efficacy. However, these models have limitations whereas the invertebratemodel is a cost-effective and ethical alternative. The aim of the present study was to examine the invertebrateas an in vivo infection model for. Infection assays were employed to validate the fitness of the larval model forinfection and virulence evaluation. The protective efficacy of immune sera was evaluated by pre-incubated with a lethal dose of bacteria before infection. The consistency between the mouse model and the larval model was confirmed by assessing the protective efficacy of twovaccine strains. The results show thatcould be infected bystrains, in a dose- and temperature-dependent way. Moreover, this larval model can effectively evaluate the virulence ofstrains in a manner consistent with that of mammalian infection models. Importantly, this model can assess the protective efficacy of vaccine immune sera within a day. Further investigation implied that haemolymph played a crucial role in the protective efficacy of immune sera. In conclusion,could serve as a quick, efficient, and reliable model for evaluating the virulence ofstrains and efficacy of immune sera in an ethical manner.