RESULTS: An investigation on the adherence, invasion and intracellular survival of bacterial strains within the bovine aortic endothelial cell line (BAEC) were carried out. The potential vaccine strain, P. multocida B:2 GDH7, was significantly better (p ≤ 0.05) at adhering to and invading BAEC compared to its parent strain and to P. multocida B:2 JRMT12 and survived intracellularly 7 h post treatment, with a steady decline over time. A dual reporter plasmid, pSRGM, which enabled tracking of bacterial movement from the extracellular environment into the intracellular compartment of the mammalian cells, was subsequently transformed into P. multocida B:2 GDH7. Intracellular trafficking of the vaccine strain, P. multocida B:2 GDH7 was subsequently visualized by tracking the reporter proteins via confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM).

RESULTS: The LACV was evaluated for its colonization potential, reactogenicity, immunogenicity and protective efficacy in animal models after its storage at room temperature for 140 days. In suckling mice colonization assay, the LACV recorded the highest recovery of (7.2 × 107 CFU/mL) compared to those of unformulated VCUSM14P (5.6 × 107 CFU/mL) and the WT O139 strain (3.5 × 107 CFU/mL). The LACV showed no reactogenicity even at an inoculation dose of 104-106 CFU/mL in a rabbit ileal loop model. The rabbits vaccinated with the LACV or unformulated VCUSM14P survived a challenge with WT O139 and showed no signs of diarrhoea or death in the reversible intestinal tie adult rabbit diarrhoea (RITARD) model. Vaccinated rabbits recorded a 275-fold increase in anti-CT IgG and a 15-fold increase in anti-CT IgA antibodies compared to those of rabbits vaccinated with unformulated VCUSM14P. Vibriocidal antibodies were increased by 31-fold with the LACV and 14-fold with unformulated VCUSM14P.