Studies with divinyl ether-maleic anhydride and foot-and-mouth disease vaccines in swine

Mice treated with divinyl ether-maleic anhydride (DVE/MA) 7 days before, 2 days before, or simultaneously with foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) viral antigens (aqueous or oil emulsified) were more resistant to virus infection and released antibody earlier than mice treated with antigen alone. Simultaneous treatment of swine with these antigens plus DVE/MA resulted in a slightly enhanced early antibody response, which, in a test with oil-emulsified antigen, was not associated with an early induced antiviral resistance to FMD. In general, the primary and secondary antibody responses to oil antigen plus DVE/MA were the same as in control swine receiving the antigen alone. However, swine sensitized with aqueous antigen plus DVE/MA responded faster and developed higher antibody titers after a secondary treatment with aqueous antigen than swine treated similarly but without DVE/MA.