• Vaccine Name: Killed Vaccinia Virus with Adjuvant NanoEmulsion
• Target Pathogen: Variola virus
• Target Disease: Smallpox
• Vaccine Ontology ID: VO_0004150
• Type: Inactivated or "killed" vaccine
• Antigen: Two strains of vaccinia virus (VV) were used for antigens: VV Western Reserve strain (VVWR) and recombinant Western Reserve strain (VVWR-Luc). The recombinant strain is the same as the VVWR except for expression of firefly luciferase from the pH 7.5 early/late promoter (Bielinska et al., 2008).
• Adjuvant:
  • Adjuvant name:
  • VO adjuvant ID: VO_0001319
• Preparation: The viruses killed by incubation were incubated for 3 h at 37°C in 10% NE. Nasal instillation killed virus was diluted to obtain either 1 x 10^3 PFU or 1 x 10^5 PFU per dose in 1% NE. Vaccine formulations containing formalin-killed virus (Fk) were prepared by incubation of VV (about 10^8 PFU/ml) with 0.1% formalin at room temperature for 3 h. This mixture was then diluted in either saline or 1% NE to 1 x 10^3 or 1 x 10^5 PFU per dose to reduce the formalin to nontoxic concentrations for intranasal (i.n.) immunization (Bielinska et al., 2008).

Mouse Response

• Host Strain: BALB/c
• Vaccination Protocol: Mice were vaccinated with 10 to 15 µl of vaccine formulation per naris by use of a pipette tip. Emulsion was applied slowly to minimize bronchial distribution and swallowing of the material (Bielinska et al., 2008).
• Immune Response: The intranasal vaccination resulted in both systemic and mucosal anti-VV immunity, virus-neutralizing antibodies, and Th1-biased cellular responses (Bielinska et al., 2008).
• Side Effects: Mice protected with VV/NE immunization did have clinical symptoms more extensive than animals vaccinated by scarification post-challenge (Bielinska et al., 2008).
• Challenge Protocol: Aliquots of purified recombinant VVWR-Luc or VVWR were thawed and diluted in saline on the day of the challenge. Mice were challenged i.n. with a 20-µl suspension of 2 x 10^6 PFU live VVWR-Luc, corresponding to 10 times the 50% lethal dose, or with live VVWR doses ranging from 1 x 10^7 to 3.2 x 10^3 in fivefold dilutions (Bielinska et al., 2008).
• Efficacy: Nasal vaccination with VV/NE vaccine produced protection against lethal infection equal to vaccination by scarification, with 100% survival after challenge (Bielinska et al., 2008).