Field trials evaluating the efficacy of porcine epidemic diarrhea vaccine, RNA (Harrisvaccine) in the Philippines

Safety concern of recombination between self-amplifying mRNA vaccines and viruses is mitigated in vivo

Self-amplifying mRNA (SAM) vaccines can be rapidly deployed in the event of disease outbreaks. A legitimate safety concern is the potential for recombination between alphavirus-based SAM vaccines and circulating viruses. This theoretical risk needs to be assessed in the regulatory process for SAM vaccine approval. Herein, we undertake extensive in vitro and in vivo assessments to explore recombination between SAM vaccine and a wide selection of alphaviruses and a coronavirus. SAM vaccines were found to effectively limit alphavirus co-infection through superinfection exclusion, although some co-replication was still possible. Using sensitive cell-based assays, replication-competent alphavirus chimeras were generated in vitro as a result of rare, but reproducible, RNA recombination events. The chimeras displayed no increased fitness in cell culture. Viable alphavirus chimeras were not detected in vivo in C57BL/6J, Rag1-/- and Ifnar-/- mice, in which high levels of SAM vaccine and alphavirus co-replicated in the same tissue. Furthermore, recombination between a SAM-spike vaccine and a swine coronavirus was not observed. In conclusion we state that although the ability of SAM vaccines to recombine with alphaviruses might be viewed as an environmental safety concern, several key factors substantially mitigate against in vivo emergence of chimeric viruses from SAM vaccine recipients.

Insights and progress on epidemic characteristics, genotyping, and preventive measures of PEDV in China: A review

Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea (PED) is an acute, extremely infectious intestinal disease of pigs caused by the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea Virus (PEDV). The virus can affect pigs of all breeds and age groups and shows varying degrees of symptoms, with piglets, in particular, being infected with mortality rates of up to 100%. PEDV was first identified in China in the 1980s and in October 2010 a large-scale PED outbreak caused by a variant of PEDV occurred in China, resulting in huge economic losses. Initially, vaccination can effectively prevent the classical strain, but since December 2010, the PEDV variant has caused "persistent diarrhoea" with severe vomiting, watery diarrhoea, and high morbidity and mortality in newborn piglets as the dominant clinical features, with a significant increase in morbidity and mortality. This indicates that PEDV strains have mutated during evolution and that traditional vaccines no longer provide effective cross-immune protection, so it is necessary to optimize immunization programs and find effective treatments through epidemiological surveys of PEDV to reduce the economic losses caused by infections with mutated strains. This article reviews the progress of research on the aetiology, epidemiological characteristics, genotyping, pathogenesis, transmission routes, and comprehensive control of PEDV infection in China.

Antibody Evaluation and Mutations of Antigenic Epitopes in the Spike Protein of the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus from Pig Farms with Repeated Intentional Exposure (Feedback)

The feedback strategy, or controlled exposure of pig herd to the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), significantly decreased losses during a severe outbreak in late 2013 in Taiwan. However, some pig farms still suffered from recurrent outbreaks. To evaluate the association between antibody titers and clinical manifestations, sera and colostra were analyzed from one pig farm that employed the feedback strategy. Furthermore, spike (S) gene full sequences from six positive samples of two farms with and without using feedback were compared to investigate the evolution of PEDV variants circulating in pig herds. The results in this study showed that high PEDV antibody titers do not correlate with the high rate of protection from PEDV infection. In addition, repeated feedback generated the emergence of PEDV variants with unique substitutions of N537S and Y561H in the COE domain and S769F in the SS6 epitopes. These mutations indicated the pathogenetic evolution of PEDV strains existing in the cycle of the feedback method. A very strict biosecurity practice to block the routes of pathogen transfer should be followed to achieve successful control of PEDV infections in pig herds.

An alphavirus replicon-based vaccine expressing a stabilized Spike antigen induces protective immunity and prevents transmission of SARS-CoV-2 between cats

Early in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic concerns were raised regarding infection of new animal hosts and the effect on viral epidemiology. Infection of other animals could be detrimental by causing clinical disease, allowing further mutations, and bares the risk for the establishment of a non-human reservoir. Cats were the first reported animals susceptible to natural and experimental infection with SARS-CoV-2. Given the concerns these findings raised, and the close contact between humans and cats, we aimed to develop a vaccine candidate that could reduce SARS-CoV-2 infection and in addition to prevent spread among cats. Here we report that a Replicon Particle (RP) vaccine based on Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, known to be safe and efficacious in a variety of animal species, could induce neutralizing antibody responses in guinea pigs and cats. The design of the SARS-CoV-2 spike immunogen was critical in developing a strong neutralizing antibody response. Vaccination of cats was able to induce high neutralizing antibody responses, effective also against the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 variant. Interestingly, in contrast to control animals, the infectious virus could not be detected in oropharyngeal or nasal swabs of vaccinated cats after SARS-CoV-2 challenge. Correspondingly, the challenged control cats spread the virus to in-contact cats whereas the vaccinated cats did not transmit the virus. The results show that the RP vaccine induces protective immunity preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission. These data suggest that this RP vaccine could be a multi-species vaccine useful to prevent infection and spread to and between animals should that approach be required.