Rinderpest vaccination responses among calves and adult cattle in Uganda monitored using ELISA assay.

Responses to the Plowright Rinderpest vaccine by 43 calves and 70 adult cattle in Uganda in 1990, through the production of IgG antibodies, were monitored for 4 weeks using the ELISA assay. 80% of the calves were seronegative before vaccination of which 32% remained seronegative and 68% subsequently seroconverted at 2 weeks postvaccination. 20% of the calves were seropositive before vaccination but registered a decline during the 2nd and 4th weeks postvaccination. 50% of adult Ankole cattle seroconverted after 3 weeks postvaccination, while the other 50% of them, which were seropositive before vaccination, showed a decline in seronegative levels during the first 2 weeks postvaccination, but increased again at the 4th week. 90% of Friesian adult cattle were seronegative before vaccination; however, they all seroconverted within the 2nd week of postvaccination. The other 10% remained seropositive, with a slight decline of antibody levels during the 4 weeks after vaccination.