East Coast fever (ECF) is a lymphoproliferative disease caused by the protozoan parasite Theileria parva. It kills about one million cattle annually in Africa.

Four groups of 5 BoLA-typed animals were immunized with the T. parva Tp1 antigen with or without leader sequence in the HAd5 viral vector and boosted with the same antigens in the MVA vector. Most animals generated CTL to the known epitope measured using tetramer staining, ELISpot and Cr-51-release assay. The CTL expressed perforin and lysed peptide pulsed PBMC. CD4 cells were shown to proliferate to the antigen. Challenge of the animals resulted in about 30% protection.

See a poster presented at the recent Keystone Symposia meeting: New approaches to vaccines for human and veterinary tropical diseases:

Download the poster:
Svitek, N., Saya, R., Awino, E., Gilbert, S.C., Poole, J.E., Nene, V. and Steinaa, L. 2016. Immunogenicity and protection of the Theileria parva CTL antigen Tp1, with or without a leader sequence, using HAd5/MVA prime-boost vaccination. Poster prepared for the Keystone Symposium on New Approaches to Vaccines for Human and Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Cape Town, 22-26 May 2016. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.