Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior, Kyoto University, 41-2 Kanrin, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan.
Exp Anim. 2023 Nov 9;72(4):490-495. doi: 10.1538/expanim.23-0040. Epub 2023 Jun 6.
A tetanus outbreak occurred during 2014-2015 in the rhesus macaques reared in an open enclosure in our facility. As the soil of the facility was suspected to be contaminated with Clostridium tetani spores, there was a risk of further tetanus occurring among the macaques. To protect them from tetanus, a tetanus toxoid vaccination was recommended; however, the vaccinated elderly animals might not be effectively protected due to insufficient humoral immune responses. Hence, we evaluated the dynamics of antibody responses among rhesus macaques of all age groups vaccinated with two-dose tetanus toxoid at a 1-year interval during a 3-year follow-up study. The vaccination developed anti-tetanus toxin-specific antibodies in animals of all age groups, the antibody levels peaked 1 year after the second vaccination, and the peak levels decreased with age. However, the levels among elderly individuals (aged ≥13 years) were still higher than the threshold level, which was supposed to protect them from tetanus development. Although the rhesus macaques in our facility had a risk of occasional exposure to the spores due to the outbreak, no incidence of tetanus has ever occurred to date. These results indicate that the vaccination protocol is effective in protecting not only younger but also older animals from tetanus.
2014-2015 年，我们设施中饲养的在开放围栏中的恒河猴爆发了破伤风。由于设施的土壤被怀疑受到破伤风梭菌孢子污染，因此猴子中存在进一步发生破伤风的风险。为了保护它们免受破伤风的侵害，建议接种破伤风类毒素疫苗；然而，由于体液免疫反应不足，接种疫苗的老年动物可能无法得到有效保护。因此，我们在一项为期 3 年的随访研究中，评估了在 1 年内间隔接种两剂破伤风类毒素的所有年龄组恒河猴的抗体反应动态。疫苗接种在所有年龄组的动物中均产生了抗破伤风毒素特异性抗体，第二次接种后 1 年抗体水平达到峰值，峰值水平随年龄下降。然而，老年个体（≥13 岁）的水平仍然高于保护它们免受破伤风发展的阈值水平。尽管我们设施中的恒河猴由于爆发偶尔有接触孢子的风险，但迄今为止从未发生过破伤风病例。这些结果表明，该疫苗接种方案不仅对年轻动物而且对老年动物都有效，可预防破伤风。
