[Experience in vaccinating farm animals for preventing Q fever in humans]

Abstract

Vaccination of animals is indicated for cattle and sheep to prevent human infections deriving from these animals and inhibit the infertility in livestock. Both phase I and phase II are available. Vaccination is successful only when animals had been vaccinated as noninfected young, i. e. calves or lambs. Corpuscular vaccines are prevalent in immunoprophylaxis of domestic animals against coxiellosis. Such vaccines consist of formalin--inactivated, purified corpuscules Coxiella burnetii in phase I or phase II suspended in isotonic saline. But only complete composition of particles Coxiella burnetii secures their immunogenicity. We assume that any vaccine prepared from phase II Coxiella burnetii can not be equivalent to a vaccine prepared from phase I Coxiella burnetii. We tried to ascertain the optimal dose of Q-fever vaccine Coxiella burnetii, strain Nine Mile phase I, for the immunization of cattle. The vaccine is called BODIBION and it is commercially produced by BIOVETA in Nitra, Czechoslovakia. It is recommended to vaccinate by Coxiella--free herds of cattle the heifers from the age of 3 months with a dose of 200 micrograms of vaccine with the possibility either to revaccinate with the same dose, i. e. 200 micrograms 3-4 weeks after the first dose, or to vaccinate with only a single dose, i. e. 200 micrograms, but with the addition of adjuvans. In Q-fever infested herds it is recommended to vaccinate with 500 micrograms of vaccine with the possibility of either to revaccinate after 3-4 weeks with a lower dose, i. e. 200 micrograms of vaccine, or to vaccinate with a single dose of 500 micrograms vaccine with the addition of adjuvans. The administration of adjuvans in the vaccination process seems to be perspective in the development of vaccines against coxiellosis in domestic animals. Its involvement may lower the recently used vaccination dose and may avoid the revaccination.