Development of animal recombinant DNA vaccine and its efficacy in foxes.

Rabies is prevalent in most parts of the world. An extensive reservoir of the disease is present in the population of wild animals. The fox in particular is a major vector of the disease in North America and Europe. Although attempts to control rabies by vaccination of wild carnivores with attenuated rabies virus have met with some success, this approach remains controversial. The potential of a recombinant vaccinia virus expressing the rabies glycoprotein for the protection of foxes against rabies was examined. Both the parental (wild-type) and recombinant viruses were found to be innocuous to foxes. Inoculation of live recombinant virus via the subcutaneous, intradermal, or oral routes uniformly elicited high titers of neutralizing antibodies, and animals that received 10(8) plaque-forming units of the recombinant virus in bait resisted severe challenge with live rabies virus.