Diseases caused by enteric bacterial pathogens are a major
problem worldwide. They are estimated to cause over 2 million deaths each year.
Many of these pathogens are carried by animals reared for food, such as poultry
and swine. The bacteria can also be transmitted to humans by contaminated food
and water.
In developing countries, bacterial enteropathogens in food
animals are a major factor that decreases the productivity of livestock. This
can contribute significantly to food shortages. Thus, it is expected that
vaccines to prevent these diseases will provide, not only improved animal
health, but also better health and nutrition for the human population.
Professor Roy Curtiss and his colleagues at Arizona State
University’s Biodesign Institute have developed several robust Salmonella
vaccine strains capable of preventing infection by a variety of these medically
important enteric pathogens.
These live vaccines are safe and suitable for intranasal and
oral delivery in humans and animals. The vaccine strains can withstanding the
biological stresses imposed by human or animal hosts, and this allows them to
invade host gut lymphoid tissues thereby stimulating a strong, protective immune
response.
Having provoked the desired immune response, the recombinant
vaccine strains have further been engineered to lose some of their wild-type
attributes, preventing any permanent colonization and making them easy targets
for clearance by host defenses.
Potential Applications
- Swine and Poultry Vaccination - enhanced food safety by
diminishing the possibility of transmitting bacterial enteropathogens to
humans through the food chain
- Human Vaccination - prevents Travelers’ Diarrhea and,
especially in the developing world, reduces the estimated 2 million annual
deaths due to bacterial diarrheal diseases
Benefits and Advantages
- Minimally induced immune response
- Cross protective immunity to bacterial enteric pathogens
- Inoculation across species
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For more information about the inventor(s) and their
research, please see
Dr.
Mellata's directory webpage
Dr.
Curtiss' directory webpage
Dr.
Curtiss' departmental webpage
