ALTEX :: Alternatives to Animal Experiments

1998, Supplement

Avian Encephalomyelitis of Poultry: Contribution on the Reduction of Animals During Vaccine Testing

Anja Langhardt, Laura Frank, Brigitte Kuechler, and Carmen Jungbaeck

Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, D-Langen

SUMMARY

The testing of live avian enzephalomyelitis (AE) virus vaccines according to the prescriptions of the European Pharmacopoeia (EP) requires a number of animal trials. The purpose of these trials presented is the replacement respectively of two of the animal trials. The first test to be replaced is the virus titration in eggs which includes the observation of the hatching and survival capacity of infected embryos. Therefore, a non-competitive ELISA was developed which allows the quantitative determination of AE-virus preparations. The second test to be refined is the efficacy testing of AE-vaccines. The challenge described in the European Pharmacopoeia shall be replaced by the quantification of the serological response of the chickens and their progeny after vaccination. Therefore, the minimum amount of protecting humoral antibodies has to be defined. First trials compared the pathogenicity of two challenge strains and evaluated the kinetic of maternal antibodies in chickens derived from vaccinated hens.

Keywords: avian enzephalomyelitis, vaccine testing, animal reduction and replacement