Habarugira Gervais, Harrison Jessica J, Moran Jasmin, Suen Willy W, Colmant Agathe M G, Hobson-Peters Jody, Isberg Sally R, Bielefeldt-Ohmann Helle, Hall Roy A
School of Veterinary Science, The University of Queensland, Gatton, QLD, Australia.
School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.
NPJ Vaccines. 2023 Jun 27;8(1):93. doi: 10.1038/s41541-023-00688-w.
West Nile virus (WNV) causes skin lesions in farmed crocodiles leading to the depreciation of the value of their hides and significant economic losses. However, there is no commercially available vaccine designed for use in crocodilians against WNV. We tested chimeric virus vaccines composed of the non-structural genes of the insect-specific flavivirus Binjari virus (BinJV) and genes encoding the structural proteins of WNV. The BinJV/WNV chimera, is antigenically similar to wild-type WNV but replication-defective in vertebrates. Intramuscular injection of two doses of BinJV/WNV in hatchling saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) elicited a robust neutralising antibody response and conferred protection against viremia and skin lesions after challenge with WNV. In contrast, mock-vaccinated crocodiles became viraemic and 22.2% exhibited WNV-induced lesions. This suggests that the BinJV/WNV chimera is a safe and efficacious vaccine for preventing WNV-induced skin lesions in farmed crocodilians.
西尼罗河病毒（WNV）会导致养殖鳄鱼出现皮肤损伤，致使其皮革价值贬值并造成重大经济损失。然而，目前尚无专门用于鳄鱼对抗WNV的商用疫苗。我们测试了由昆虫特异性黄病毒宾贾里病毒（BinJV）的非结构基因和编码WNV结构蛋白的基因组成的嵌合病毒疫苗。BinJV/WNV嵌合体在抗原性上与野生型WNV相似，但在脊椎动物中复制缺陷。在孵化的咸水鳄（湾鳄）中肌肉注射两剂BinJV/WNV，引发了强烈的中和抗体反应，并在受到WNV攻击后提供了针对病毒血症和皮肤损伤的保护。相比之下，接受模拟疫苗接种的鳄鱼出现了病毒血症，22.2%表现出WNV诱导的损伤。这表明BinJV/WNV嵌合体是一种安全有效的疫苗，可预防养殖鳄鱼中WNV诱导的皮肤损伤。
