Field evaluation of commercial vaccines against infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) virus using different immunization protocols

Bovine alphaherpesvirus 1 is ubiquitous in cattle populations and is associated with several clinical syndromes, including respiratory disease, genital disease, infertility and abortions. Control of the virus in many parts of the world is achieved primarily through vaccination with either inactivated or live modified viral vaccines. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of four commercially available BoHV-1 vaccines commonly used in Central and South America. Animals were divided into eight groups and vaccinated on days 0 and 30. Groups 1 to 4 received two doses of four different BoHV-1 commercial vaccines (named A to D). Groups 5 and 6 received vaccine D plus a vaccine for either Clostridial or Food-and-Mouth-Disease (FMD), respectively. Group 7 received one dose of two different brands of reproductive vaccines. Serum samples were collected from all animals on days 0, 30 and 60 to evaluate neutralizing and isotype-specific (IgG1 and IgG2) antibodies. Of the four commercial vaccines evaluated, only vaccine A induced neutralizing antibodies to titers ≥ 1:8 in 13/15 (86%) of the animals 60 days post-vaccination. Levels of IgG2 antibody increased in all groups, except for group 2 after the first dose of vaccine B. These results show that only vaccine A induced significant and detectable levels of BoHV-1-neutralizing antibodies. The combination of vaccine D with Clostridial or FMD vaccines did not affect neutralizing antibody responses to BoHV-1. The antibody responses of three of the four commercial vaccines analyzed here were lower than admissible by vaccine A. These results may be from vaccination failure, but means to identify the immune signatures predictive of clinical protection against BoHV-1 in cattle should also be considered.