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Clinical monitoring and all sampling procedures were carried out in a blind manner. gE-negative BoHV-1. After challenge, a significant reduction in disease severity was observed in immunised goats. Moreover, goats immunised with either gE-negative BoHV-1 or CpHV-1 exhibited a significant reduction in the length and the peak of viral excretion. Antibodies neutralising both BoHV-1 and CpHV-1 were raised in immunised goats. Conclusion Intranasal application of a live attenuated gE-negative BoHV-1 vaccine is able to afford a clinical protection and a reduction of virus excretion in goats challenged by a CpHV-1 genital infection. Background The subfamily em Alphaherpesvirinae /em includes a cluster of closely related ruminant viruses with bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) as prototype [1]. BoHV-1, a major cattle pathogen, is typically responsible of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) causing severe economic losses in livestock [2]. Since its isolation, several conventional vaccines have been developed. These vaccines usually prevented clinical signs and reduced the amount of excreted viruses. However, there was still a need for improvements in order to use them in control and/or eradication programmes [3]. Therefore, BoHV-1 marker vaccines comprising attenuated or killed mutants with a deletion in one of the non-essential genes (gE) were developed and eradication campaigns were initiated in many European countries. They have proven their safety and efficacy in the target bovine species since they are efficacious at reducing disease severity, virus shedding, and circulation in a population [4,5]. Caprine herpesvirus 1 (CpHV-1) is associated with two different syndromes in goats, Rabbit Polyclonal to BHLHB3 a lethal systemic disease in kids [6,7] and a genital disease leading to balanoposthitis [8], vulvovaginitis [9] and abortion [10] in adults. These clinical signs and the virus presence in nasal, ocular, rectal and vaginal samples suggest both the venereal transmission as the principal virus entry route and infection persistence within herds [11,12]. The genital tropism of CpHV-1 was confirmed by the detection of viral DNA in sacral ganglia of latently infected goats [13]. According to serological investigations, the infection occurs worldwide with highest prevalences observed in Mediterranean countries [14-20]. CDK8-IN-1 However, the economical losses due to CpHV-1 infection are probably CDK8-IN-1 underestimated. To date, a classical inactivated vaccine has been developed [21,22], however, it can not be licensed since the market of veterinary medicinal products for minor species, like goats, is not economically profitable. Consequently, the control of this infection still relies on hygienic prophylactic measures [1]. BoHV-1 and CpHV-1 are antigenically and genetically closely related [1]. This relationship was originally demonstrated by serological assays [15,23-25] and lately by phylogenetic analysis [26-28]. These viruses are able to some extent to cross the species barrier and establish infection in heterologous animal species [29,30]. Experimental reactivation of latent infection of BoHV-1 in goats was successfully performed [31]. Moreover, a recent experiment showed that intranasal administration of a live attenuated gE-negative BoHV-1 vaccine in goats reduced the peak viral titre after a nasal CpHV-1 challenge and therefore afforded a partial cross-protection [32]. In the following study, it is hypothesised that an intranasal administration (of a bovine CDK8-IN-1 vaccine) CDK8-IN-1 could afford a protection against the CDK8-IN-1 clinical genital infection. Indeed, for many years, the upper respiratory mucosa has been proven to be suitable for vaccine delivery. The recent advances in the study of the mucosal immune system strengthen this mode of administration as being a very effective route for vaccination for both peripheral and mucosal immunity [33]. In human, nasal mucosa can serve as an efficient site for the induction of specific IgA and IgG responses in vaginal secretions [34,35]. The goat genital tract might employ similar homing mechanisms as those of the upper respiratory tract and therefore could receive primed immune cells from the nasopharynx-associated lymphoid tissue (NALT) [36]. Therefore, it was decided to investigate gE-negative BoHV-1 intranasal route of vaccination in goats with the aim to protect this species against CpHV-1 genital infection. Results Clinical and viral responses after intranasal immunisation Goats immunised by intranasal inoculation with virulent CpHV-1 or gE-negative BoHV-1 vaccine remained in good general state of health. No signs of severe disease as.