Preliminary Trials of Oral Immunization of Wildlife Against Anthrax

Abstract : In pilot trials relating to the vaccination of wild animals in African game reserves, guinea pigs were vaccinated against anthrax. The vaccine was prepared in suspension using the Goettingen IBT Bioreactor method. Guinea pigs immunized orally or subcutaneously survived infection by 1000 spores from a field strain isolated from an elephant in the Luangwa Valley Animal Reserve in Zambia. The animals immunized orally or subcutaneously and infected with 2500 spores died. A technique was developed using gas chromatography to identify B. anthracis organisms excreted in the feces. Anthrax as a zoonosis has lost much of its terror in Europe, although there continue to be sporadic reports of human infections in which the pathogen was brought in from a tropical country (1,3,11).