VMC 221: Veterinary Immunology and Serology (1+1)

DIVA/MARKER VACCINES

• Vaccination employing conventional vaccines interferes with the serological detection of infection with the pathogens and thus in the assessment of prevalence and incidence of diseases.
• This necessitates the development of DIVA vaccines that are capable of distinguishing between antibody responses resulting due to vaccination and infection (DIVA- Differentiating infected from vaccinated individuals) or marker vaccines.
• A marker vaccine (live or inactivated) is either based on deletion mutant or isolating antigenic proteins that allows the distinction between vaccinated and infected animals on the basis of identifiable differences in antibody responses.
• A marker vaccine is used in conjuction with a test that detects antibodies against protein that is lacking in the vaccine strain.
• DIVA vaccine was useful to control avian influenza in Italy.