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. 2018 Mar 13;14(1):90.
doi: 10.1186/s12917-018-1417-0.

Safety studies with the oral rabies virus vaccine strain SPBN GASGAS in the small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus)

Steffen Ortmann  1 , Ad Vos  2 , Antje Kretzschmar  1 , Nomusa Walther  1 , Christiane Kaiser  1 , Conrad Freuling  3 , Ivana Lojkic  4 , Thomas Müller  3
Affiliations

Safety studies with the oral rabies virus vaccine strain SPBN GASGAS in the small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus)

Steffen Ortmann et al. BMC Vet Res. .

Abstract

Background: Oral vaccination of the small Indian mongoose against rabies has been suggested as a potential tool to eliminate mongoose-mediated rabies on several Caribbean islands. A recently developed oral rabies virus vaccine strain, SPBN GASGAS, has already been shown to be efficacious in this reservoir species. Since, all available oral rabies vaccines are based on replication-competent viruses and vaccine baits are distributed unsupervised in the environment, enhanced safety standards for such vaccine types are required.

Results: The results of safety studies, including overdose, repeated doses, dissemination and different routes of administration, in the target species are presented. It was shown that the construct was apathogenic, irrespective of dose and route of administration. Even when it was inoculated directly in the brain, it did not induce rabies infection. Furthermore, the vaccine strain did not spread within the target species after direct oral instillation beyond the site of entry.

Conclusion: The vaccine strain SPBN GASGAS meets the safety requirements for live rabies virus vaccines in this target species, the small Indian mongoose.

Keywords: Mongoose; Oral vaccination; Rabies; SPBN GASGAS; Safety.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interest

AK, SO, NW, CK and AV are full-time employee of IDT Biologika GmbH, a manufacturer of oral rabies vaccine baits. TM and CMF from the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute received funding from IDT Biologika GmbH for research into mechanisms of oral rabies vaccination and serological response. IL – not applicable.

Ethics approval

All animals were kept in accordance with the prevailing guidelines and the in vivo studies were performed according to European guidelines on animal welfare, clinical endpoints, and care of the Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations (FELASA). The required permits, including ethical approval, for the animal studies were obtained from the appropriate veterinary authorities in the federal state of Saxony Anhalt, Germany (Landesverwaltungsamt Sachsen – Anhalt, Referat Verbraucherschutz, Veterinärangelegenheiten, approval number AZ 42502–3-762). Approval and subsequent release of the captured animals was obtained by the custom veterinary officials in Croatia; TRACES documents for intra-community trade intra.hr.2016.0004862-V1 and intra.hr.2016.0005574-V1.

Consent for publication

not applicable.

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