IAI FigSearch
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Jarrett, C. O.
Right arrow Articles by Hinnebusch, B. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Jarrett, C. O.
Right arrow Articles by Hinnebusch, B. J.
Infection and Immunity, April 2004, p. 2052-2056, Vol. 72, No. 4
0019-9567/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.72.4.2052-2056.2004

Flea-Borne Transmission Model To Evaluate Vaccine Efficacy against Naturally Acquired Bubonic Plague

Clayton O. Jarrett,1 Florent Sebbane,1 Jeffrey J. Adamovicz,2 Gerard P. Andrews,2 and B. Joseph Hinnebusch1*

Laboratory of Human Bacterial Pathogenesis, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana 59840,1 Division of Bacteriology, United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, Maryland 217022

Received 26 November 2003/ Returned for modification 2 January 2004/ Accepted 14 January 2004

A flea-to-mouse transmission model was developed for use in testing new candidate vaccines for the ability to protect against flea-borne plague. The model was used to evaluate a recombinant fusion protein vaccine consisting of the Yersinia pestis F1 and V antigens. After one to three challenges with Y. pestis-infected fleas, 14 of 15 unvaccinated control mice developed plague, with an average septicemia level of 9.2 x 108 Y. pestis CFU/ml. None of 15 vaccinated mice developed the disease after similar challenges, and serological testing indicated that transmitted bacteria were eliminated by the immune system before extensive replication and systemic infection could occur. The transmission and development of disease in control mice correlated with the number of bites by blocked fleas but not with the total number of fleabites. The model provides a means to directly assess the efficacy of new vaccines to prevent naturally acquired bubonic plague and to study events at the vector-host interface that lead to dissemination and disease.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratory of Human Bacterial Pathogenesis, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 903 S. 4th St., Hamilton, MT 59840. Phone: (406) 363-9260. Fax: (406) 363-9394. E-mail: jhinnebusch{at}niaid.nih.gov.

Editor: J. B. Bliska


Infection and Immunity, April 2004, p. 2052-2056, Vol. 72, No. 4
0019-9567/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.72.4.2052-2056.2004




This article has been cited by other articles:




Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. J. Virol. Eukaryot. Cell
Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. Clin. Vaccine Immunol. All ASM Journals

Copyright © 2004 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.