LETHAL TOXIN NEUTRALIZING ANTIBODY RESPONSE INDUCED FOLLOWING ORAL VACCINATION WITH A MICROENCAPSULATEDSTERNE STRAIN 34F2 VACCINE PROOF-OF-CONCEPT STUDY IN WHITE-TAILED DEER ().

Abstract

Improved methods are needed to prevent wildlife deaths from anthrax. Caused by, naturally occurring outbreaks of anthrax are frequent but unpredictable. The commercially available veterinary vaccine is labeled for subcutaneous injection and is impractical for large-scale wildlife vaccination programs; therefore, oral vaccination is the most realistic method to control and prevent these outbreaks. We reported the induction of an anthrax-specific lethal toxin (LeTx) neutralizing antibody response in mice following oral vaccination with alginate microcapsules containingSterne strain 34F2 spores, coated with poly-L-lysine (PLL) and vitelline protein B (VpB). We continued evaluating our novel vaccine formulation through this proof-of-concept study in white-tailed deer (WTD;;= 9). We orally vaccinated WTD via needle-free syringe with three formulations of the encapsulated vaccine: 1) PLL-VpB-coated microcapsules with 10spores/ml (= 5), 2) PLL-VpB-coated microcapsules with 10spores/ml (= 2), and 3) PLL-coated microcapsules with 10spores/ml (= 2). Although the limited sample sizes require continued experimentation, we observed an anthrax-specific antibody response in WTD serum following oral vaccination with PLL-coated microcapsules containing 10spores/ ml. Furthermore, this antibody response neutralized anthrax LeTx in vitro, suggesting that continued development of this vaccine may allow for realistic wildlife anthrax vaccination programs.