Serum bactericidal responses to Streptococcus equi of horses following infection or vaccination.

An indirect test based on horse blood was used to study bactericidal responses of the horse to Streptococcus equi following infection or vaccination. Bactericidal antibody appeared in convalescent sera between two and four weeks and high titres were usually attained by eight weeks. Infection without clinical evidence of abscessation was also effective in eliciting strong bactericidal responses. Serum bactericidal activity of horses either recovered from strangles or immunised with commercial bacterin had declined eight months after vaccination. However, horses that developed strangles eight to 10 months after vaccination exhibited rapid and substantial increases in serum bactericidal activity. Groups of yearlings immunised with commercial S equi vaccines consisting either of M protein or bacterin developed clinical strangles within six months of vaccination although the majority of the animals had exhibited strong serum bactericidal activity a few weeks before occurrence of the disease. Similarly, a group of seven yearling ponies hyperimmunised with experimental vaccine, rich in M protein, were found to be highly susceptible to an intranasal challenge of 5 X 10(8) colony forming units of S equi, although their sera exhibited strong bactericidal activity at the time of challenge. These observations suggest that the role of serum bactericidal antibody in protection of the horse against strangles has been overrated.