Antibody responses against equine influenza virus induced by concurrent and by consecutive use of an inactivated equine influenza virus vaccine and a modified live equine herpesvirus type-1 vaccine in Thoroughbred racehorses

Abstract An inactivated equine influenza virus (EIV) vaccine and a live equine herpesvirus type-1 (EHV-1) vaccine are usually administered concurrently to Thoroughbred racehorses in Japan. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether concurrent administration of an inactivated EIV vaccine and a live EHV-1 vaccine in Thoroughbred racehorses influences the antibody response against EIV. We compared the antibody response against EIV in horses administered both vaccines on the same day (group A; n=27) and the response in horses administered an inactivated EIV vaccine first and then a live EHV-1 vaccine 1 to 2 weeks later (group B; n=20). In both groups geometric mean hemagglutination inhibition (HI) titers against A/equine/Ibaraki/1/2007 and A/equine/Yokohama/aq13/2010 increased significantly after EIV vaccination. However, the percentage of horses that showed a ≥2-fold increase in HI titers against A/equine/Yokohama/aq13/2010 was significantly higher in group B (75%) than in group A (37%) (P = .02). These results suggest that the concurrent use of an inactivated EIV vaccine and a live EHV-1 vaccine reduced the immune response against EIV to some extent, and it would be better to use these vaccines consecutively, especially for naive horses or horses whose vaccination history is incomplete.