Significant progress has been made toward the development of an effective vaccine for African Horse Sickness, according to the International Horse Sports Confederation.
Researcher at work on advancing horse health
IHSC believes that the development and production of a new AHS vaccine will be a major achievement, and will deliver a positive impact on horse sports around the world.
© 2016 by Alexander Raths
African Horse Sickness is a serious and often fatal disease with forms that affect the heart and/or lungs. Endemic in many regions of Africa, the viral disease is spread by biting midges and may be spread by biting flies or mosquitoes.
The disease significantly affects the international movement of horses particularly in South Africa, which is why the IHSC has been supporting AHS-related research projects for the past three years. An IHSC Working Group has identified a potentially suitable vaccine candidate that is an inactivated, multivalent DIVA vaccine.
DIVA means differentiating infected from vaccinated animals. These vaccines, also termed as marker vaccines, induce an immune response which is different from that induced by natural infection. Marker vaccines are based on deletions mutants of wild-type pathogens, subunit vaccines and inactivated whole virus vaccines.
The DIVA designation given to marker vaccines means horses vaccinated for AHS can be identified separately from horses that have been exposed to AHS naturally—an important distinction when testing horses to be exported.
The vaccine candidate has shown to be effective in both endemic situations and during outbreaks of the disease. The IHSC has prepared a roadmap for the commercial development of the vaccine and includes a provision for a challenge study, which is considered a necessary step toward demonstrating the vaccine’s effectiveness against all nine serotypes of AHS and in supporting regulatory registration of the vaccine.
“The IHSC believes that the development and production of a new AHS vaccine will be a major achievement, and will deliver a far-reaching positive impact on horse sports around the world,” said Louis Romanet, chairman for both the IHSC and International Federation of Horseracing Authorities.
“We are proud of the research achievements realized to date through the successful collaboration between the IHSC and the OIE (World Organization for Animal Health). Indeed, the identification of a potential AHS vaccine candidate through this collaboration highlights the real power of the public-private partnership between the peak international horse sports bodies and the OIE.
Press release by International Horse Sports Confederation