Field Trial of an Aerially-Distributed Tuberculosis Vaccine in a Low-Density Wildlife Population of Brushtail Possums (Trichosurus vulpecula).

ABSTRACT: Oral-delivery Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine in a lipid matrix has been shown to confer protection against M. bovis infection and reduce the severity of tuberculosis (TB) when fed to brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula), the major wildlife vector of bovine TB in New Zealand. Here we demonstrate the feasibility of aerial delivery of this live vaccine in bait form to an M. bovis-infected wild possum population, and subsequently assess vaccine uptake and field efficacy. Pre-trial studies indicated a resident possum population at very low density (<0.6 possums/ha) at the field site, with a 5.1% prevalence of macroscopic TB lesions. Pilot studies indicated that flavoured lipid matrix baits in weather-proof sachets could be successfully sown aerially via helicopt

SUBMITTER: Nugent G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5125682 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature