The search for a vaccine against enzootic pneumonia continues in the UK

Building on previous research that identified genes essential for pathogen survival in pigs and strains of bacteria isolated from UK pigs

The British Royal Veterinary College (RVC) received funding to continue its research into enzootic pneumonia, the most common respiratory disease in pigs.

This research will focus specifically on the causative agent, Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M. hyopneumoniae), and will seek to advance the development of a vaccine.

M. hyo is present in 80% of UK pig herds and can result in a 16% reduction in growth and a 14% reduction in feed conversion of pigs. Therefore, it is not only an animal welfare issue, but it also significantly increases the cost of production for farmers.

Transmission during lactation

Furthermore, piglets are considered free of M. hyo at birth, and because of the close relationship between infected and susceptible pigs, the main route of transmission often occurs during lactation, when piglets are first exposed. According to the RVC, this puts piglets at risk of developing respiratory disease and infections from secondary pathogens.

There are currently no commercial vaccines to prevent early infection, and although M. hiyo is susceptible to a variety of antibiotics, their use should be minimized to prevent overuse and the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains.

An RVC spokesperson commented: “Therefore, the priority of the RVC team is to develop vaccines that provide protective immunity and reduce transmission. As the project is at an early stage, we cannot share much information at this time, however, our approach will not be based on the classic live attenuated or inactivated vaccine. . Instead, we will use the results from the TraDis library that have identified essential genes.”

Survival of M hio in pigs

Building on previous research that identified genes essential for pathogen survival in pigs and strains of the bacteria isolated from UK pigs, this new research project will identify the bacterial genes essential to the disease as a basis for developing better vaccines to stop the cycle of enzootic pneumonia. .

Professor Dirk Werling, professor of molecular immunology at the RVC, said: “M. hyo infection is a truly debilitating disease that causes huge economic losses for farmers. I am delighted that we continue to work with a pharmaceutical partner to develop a new vaccine using cutting-edge technologies.