Effect of pilus dose and type of Freund's adjuvant on the antibody and protective responses of vaccinated sheep to Bacteroides nodosus.

Groups of sheep were immunised twice with one or other of six vaccines consisting of purified pili from Bacteroides nodosus at three dose levels (10, 38 and 154 micrograms) and emulsified with either complete (CFA) or incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA). Beginning one month after vaccination the sheep were homologously challenged on irrigated pasture, with naturally transmitted foot rot for a period of 26 weeks. Statistical analyses of the number of feet per sheep with severe foot rot demonstrated that there was a significant effect of vaccinal dose but neither an adjuvant effect nor an interaction between dose and adjuvant. Similar conclusions were reached when the titres of antipilus agglutinins in the serum were analysed. By both criteria the responses to doses of 154 and 38 micrograms of pili were significantly better than to 10 micrograms, but not significantly different from each other. The IFA vaccines caused less reaction at the sites of injection than the CFA vaccines and within the former the vaccines containing 10 and 38 micrograms pilus produced less reaction than those containing 154 micrograms. Hence a vaccine containing 38 micrograms of purified pili in IFA is nearly optimal for homologous protection against severe foot rot and is acceptable in terms of the reaction at the injection site.