Assessment of Maternal Immunity Against LSD in Calves Born to Cows Immunized with Sheep Pox Vaccine at Different Time of Gestation Period

Abstract

Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a poxvirus disease of cattle characterized by fever, nodules on the skin, mucous membranes and internal organs, emaciation, enlarged lymph nodes, edema of the skin, and sometimes death. Vaccination of cattle is the most effective option for controlling the spread of lumpy skin disease. All the vaccines used to prevent LSD are currently based on live attenuated viruses. Two types of vaccines against LSD are commercially available; lumpy skin disease vaccine and sheep pox vaccine with the latter is commonly used, but their ability to induce passive immunity is poorly known. Here, we evaluated the passive immunity transferred from dams immunized with sheep pox vaccine to calves. Pregnant cattle were injected with living attenuated sheep pox vaccine Romanian strain via intradermal route. Clinical conditions were monitored throughout the study. The humoral immune response was evaluated in dam and in serum samples collected from newborn calves. The results indicated that sheep pox vaccine vaccines are safe and produce a good humoral immune response in pregnant cattle. Moreover, results showed that, in calf serum, passive immunity persists until three months of age.