Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort, 0110 South Africa.
Onderstepoort J Vet Res. 2009 Mar;76(1):81-8. doi: 10.4102/ojvr.v76i1.69.
Heartwater is an economically serious tick-borne disease of ruminants caused by the intracellular bacterium Ehrlichia ruminantium. The disease has traditionally been controlled by four different approaches: controlling the tick vector by dipping, establishing endemic stability, performing immunisation by infection and treatment, and preventing the disease by regular administration of prophylactic antibiotics. The first three of these methods are subject to failure for various epidemiological reasons, and serious disease outbreaks can occur. Prophylaxis is effective, but very expensive, and the logistics are daunting when large herds of animals are involved. The development of a safe, cheap and effective vaccine is the only likely way in which heartwater can be economically controlled, and over the past 15 years three new types of experimental vaccine have been developed: inactivated, attenuated, and recombinant vaccines. These new vaccines have shown varying degrees of promise, but none is as yet sufficiently successful to be marketable. We describe the experimental products, and the various technical and biological difficulties which are being encountered, and report on ways in which new technologies are being used to improve vaccine effectiveness.
心水病是一种由细胞内细菌伊氏泰勒虫引起的、严重危害反刍动物的蜱传疾病。该疾病传统上通过以下四种方法进行控制：药浴控制蜱媒介、建立地方流行稳定性、通过感染和治疗进行免疫接种、以及通过定期使用预防性抗生素进行预防。前三种方法由于各种流行病学原因而可能失败，并且严重的疾病爆发可能会发生。预防是有效的，但非常昂贵，当涉及大量动物时，物流是令人生畏的。安全、廉价和有效的疫苗的开发是经济控制心水病的唯一可能途径，在过去的 15 年中，已经开发出了三种新型实验性疫苗：灭活疫苗、减毒疫苗和重组疫苗。这些新型疫苗显示出不同程度的希望，但没有一种疫苗成功到足以推向市场。我们描述了实验产品，以及正在遇到的各种技术和生物学困难，并报告了新技术用于提高疫苗效力的方法。
