Journal of Vaccine Research 2024, Vol.14, No.1, 27-31 http://medscipublisher.com/index.php/jvr 27 Scientific Review Open Access New Perspectives on the Impact of BCG Vaccination on Bovine Tuberculosis Transmission: A Comprehensive Study Analysis KeyanFang Institute of Life Science, Jiyang College of Zhejiang A&F University, Zhuji, 311800, Zhengjiang, China Corresponding email: Cocofang0227@gmail.com Journal of Vaccine Research, 2024, Vol.14, No.1 doi: 10.5376/jvr.2024.14.0004 Received: 30 Mar, 2024 Accepted: 05 Apr., 2024 Published: 08 Apr., 2024 Copyright © 2024 Fang, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Fang K.Y., 2024, New perspectives on the impact of BCG vaccination on bovine tuberculosis transmission: a comprehensive study analysis, Journal of Vaccine Research, 14(1): 27-31 (doi: 10.5376/jvr.2024.14.0004) The paper titled "BCG Vaccination Reduces Bovine Tuberculosis Transmission, Improving Prospects for Elimination," authored by Abebe Fromsa, Katriina Willgert, Sreenidhi Srinivasan, and others, was published in the journal Science on March 29, 2024. The research comes from the Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology at Addis Ababa University, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture at Addis Ababa University, and other institutions. This study focuses on the potential of the BCG vaccine to reduce the transmission of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in Ethiopia. By integrating natural transmission experiments with mechanistic transmission models, the research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the BCG vaccine in controlling bTB transmission under different herd conditions. Experimental results show that vaccinated animals exhibited a 74% reduction in bTB transmission compared to unvaccinated animals. This finding provides strong evidence supporting the BCG vaccine as an effective strategy for controlling bTB, especially in resource-limited settings. 1 Experimental Data Analysis In this study, scientists explored the impact of the BCG vaccine on reducing the transmission of bovine tuberculosis (bTB), with a particular focus on its direct and indirect protective effects within cattle herds. Conducting natural transmission experiments in Ethiopia, the research team placed both BCG-vaccinated and unvaccinated herds under the same environmental conditions to observe and compare the transmission of bTB between the two groups. The results were encouraging, showing a significant 74% reduction in the transmission of bTB among the vaccinated herds. This finding not only confirms the direct effect of the BCG vaccine in reducing individual animal infections but more importantly, reveals the indirect benefits of the vaccine in reducing the infectiousness of infected animals, thereby decreasing disease transmission across the entire herd. Furthermore, by combining the results of natural transmission experiments with mechanistic transmission model analyses, this study provides new insights into bTB control strategies, particularly highlighting the potential of using the BCG vaccine as an effective control measure in resource-limited settings. Figure 1 illustrates the study design for research on the impact of the BCG vaccine on the transmission of bovine tuberculosis (bTB). In the first phase, newly recruited sentinel animals (calves) were acclimatized for about two weeks and then randomly assigned to either the control group (unvaccinated, U) or the vaccine group (vaccinated, V) through a double-blind lottery system. Two months post-vaccination, Interferon-gamma Release Assays (IGRA) and skin tests were conducted to confirm vaccine response. After confirming the vaccine response, approximately 34 adult infected animals (i.e., seeders) were co-housed with 17 unvaccinated and 17 BCG-vaccinated sentinel calves per group. Due to the loss of animals from vaccination to exposure, there were actually 16 to 18 animals per group. During the one-year exposure period, blood was drawn every two months for IGRA and skin tests were conducted every four months. Sentinel animals that survived the first phase were then used as seeders for two new experimental groups (groups 3 and 4), with new sentinel calves in these groups subsequently tracked through the same testing schedule during a second 12-month period of natural exposure.
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