Passive immune cross-protection in mice produced by rabbit antisera against different serotypes of Pasteurella multocida.

Haemorrhagic septicaemia (HS) and fowl cholera (FC) are specific diseases caused by certain serotypes of Pasteurella multocida. Strains that usually cause HS in cattle and water buffalo do not produce FC in avian species, and strains that cause FC do not produce HS in cattle and water buffalo. A variety of P. multocida serotypes, including unusual strains which can cause HS in wild ruminants, were evaluated in passive immune protection studies to determine the immunological relationship between strains associated with HS and FC. Various degrees of cross-protection were seen among the strains. Antiserum against a serotype B:3,4 strain protected against strains capable of causing HS (serotypes B:1, B:2, B:3,4, B:4 and E:2) and FC (serotypes A:1, A:3 and A:5). Antiserum against an FC strain (serotype A:5) similarly protected against strains capable of causing HS and FC. Antigenic analyses indicated that cross-protection was not necessarily induced by serotype-specific capsular (beta) or somatic (gamma) antigens or major porin protein. SDS-PAGE and immunoblots of whole cell lysates of the different HS and FC strains showed many protein-staining bands with similar mobilities and antigenic activity. These cross-reactive antigenic bands occurred in the 20- to 120-kDa range. Adsorption of antiserum with a heterologous serotype removed its reactivity with most of these bands, as well as its ability to cross-protect.