Griffiths, M. E. , Meza, D. K., Haydon, D. T. and Streicker, D. G. (2023) Inferring the disruption of rabies circulation in vampire bat populations using a betaherpesvirus-vectored transmissible vaccine. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120(11), e2216667120. (doi: 10.1073/pnas.2216667120) (PMID:36877838) (PMCID:PMC10089182)
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Abstract
Transmissible vaccines are an emerging biotechnology that hold prospects to eliminate pathogens from wildlife populations. Such vaccines would genetically modify naturally occurring, nonpathogenic viruses (“viral vectors”) to express pathogen antigens while retaining their capacity to transmit. The epidemiology of candidate viral vectors within the target wildlife population has been notoriously challenging to resolve but underpins the selection of effective vectors prior to major investments in vaccine development. Here, we used spatiotemporally replicated deep sequencing to parameterize competing epidemiological mechanistic models of Desmodus rotundus betaherpesvirus (DrBHV), a proposed vector for a transmissible vaccine targeting vampire bat-transmitted rabies. Using 36 strain- and location-specific time series of prevalence collected over 6 y, we found that lifelong infections with cycles of latency and reactivation, combined with a high R0 (6.9; CI: 4.39 to 7.85), are necessary to explain patterns of DrBHV infection observed in wild bats. These epidemiological properties suggest that DrBHV may be suited to vector a lifelong, self-boosting, and transmissible vaccine. Simulations showed that inoculating a single bat with a DrBHV-vectored rabies vaccine could immunize >80% of a bat population, reducing the size, frequency, and duration of rabies outbreaks by 50 to 95%. Gradual loss of infectious vaccine from vaccinated individuals is expected but can be countered by inoculating larger but practically achievable proportions of bat populations. Parameterizing epidemiological models using accessible genomic data brings transmissible vaccines one step closer to implementation.
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | M.E.G. was supported by a Medical Research Council scholarship via the MRC-CVR PhD programme (MC_UU_12014/12) (https://mrc.ukri.org/). D.K.M. was supported by the Human Frontier Science Program (RGP0013/2018) (https://www.hfsp.org/) and the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT, 334795/472296) (https://www.conacyt.mx/). D.G.S. was supported by a Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship (217221/Z/19/Z) (https://wellcome.org/). This research was funded in part by the Wellcome Trust [Grant number 217221/Z/19/Z]. |
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Streicker, Professor Daniel and Haydon, Professor Daniel and Meza, Dr Diana and Griffiths, Dr Megan |
| Authors: | Griffiths, M. E., Meza, D. K., Haydon, D. T., and Streicker, D. G. |
| College/School: | College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity > Centre for Virus Research |
| Journal Name: | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
| Publisher: | National Academy of Sciences |
| ISSN: | 0027-8424 |
| ISSN (Online): | 1091-6490 |
| Published Online: | 06 March 2023 |
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2023 The Authors |
| First Published: | First published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 120(11): e2216667120 |
| Publisher Policy: | Reproduced under a Creative Commons License |
| Data DOI: | 10.6084/m9.figshare.20764960.v2 |
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