Development of a novel trivalent invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella outer membrane vesicles based vaccine against salmonellosis and fowl typhoid in chickens

Poultry animals act as natural reservoirs of invasive non-typhoidal Salmonella [iNTS] serovars and consumption of iNTS contaminated poultry meat and eggs is one of the major sources of iNTS infection in developed and developing countries. Irrational use of antibiotics in the poultry industry gives rise to the global emergence of multi drug resistant iNTS strains. Among different strategies to control iNTS infection in poultry farms, vaccination is now being widely used. There are several licensed vaccines available in the market for poultry animals to ameliorate iNTS infection but none of them have broad spectrum protective efficacy. In this study we have formulated a single novel trivalent iNTS outer membrane vesicles [OMVs] based immunogen which can confer long term broad spectrum protection against most prevalent iNTS serovars. We have isolated OMVs from Salmonella Typhimurium [ST], Salmonella Enteritidis [SE], and Salmonella Gallinarum [SG] and formulated the trivalent immunogen by mixing OMVs in a 1:1:1 ratio. One day old chicks were immunized thrice via oral route at two week intervals. Vaccination significantly induced serovar specific antibodies detected up to 180 days post immunization. Post challenge with both homologous and heterologous [S. Infantis] serovars, immunized birds showed reduced level of fecal shedding and organ invasion. A long term efficacy study also showed reduced levels of tissue invasion up to one year post immunization. These results demonstrate that our novel formulation of immunogen could be a broad spectrum potential vaccine for both layer and broiler breeds against iNTS mediated salmonellosis and fowl typhoid.