Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) is a highly contagious and often fatal disease of sheep and goats. Conventional live vaccines have been successfully used in endemic countries however, there are not completely safe and not allowing differentiation between vaccinated and infected animals (DIVA). In this study, a recombinant Newcastle disease virus (NDV) expressing the hemagglutinin of PPRV (NDV-PPRVH) was evaluated on small ruminants by serology response in sheep and goats, experimental infection in goats and immunity duration in sheep. The NDV-PPRVH vaccine injected twice at 28 days’ interval, provided full protection against challenge with a virulent PPR strain in the most sensitive species and induced significant neutralizing antibodies. Immunological response in goats was slightly higher than sheep and the vaccine injected at 10^8.0 50 % egg infective dose/mL allowed anti-PPRV antibodies that lasted at least 12 months as shown by antibody response monitoring in sheep. The NDV vector presented a limited replication in the host and vaccinated animals remained negative when tested by cELISA based on PPRV nucleoprotein allowing DIVA. This recombinant vaccine appears to be a promising candidate in a free at risk countries and may be an important component of the global strategy for PPR eradication.

小反刍动物瘟疫 (PPR) 是绵羊和山羊的一种高度传染性且通常致命的疾病。传统的活疫苗已在流行国家成功使用，但并不完全安全且不允许区分接种疫苗和感染动物 (DIVA)。在这项研究中，通过绵羊和山羊的血清学反应、山羊的实验感染和绵羊的免疫持续时间，在小反刍动物身上评估了表达 PPRV 血凝素 (NDV-PPRVH) 的重组新城疫病毒 (NDV)。NDV-PPRVH 疫苗每隔 28 天注射两次，在最敏感的物种中提供了针对强毒 PPR 毒株攻击的全面保护，并诱导了显着的中和抗体。山羊的免疫反应略高于绵羊，疫苗注射时间为 10^8.0 50% 鸡蛋感染剂量/mL 允许抗 PPRV 抗体持续至少 12 个月，如绵羊的抗体反应监测所示。当通过基于允许 DIVA 的 PPRV 核蛋白的 cELISA 测试时，NDV 载体在宿主中呈现有限的复制，并且接种的动物保持阴性。这种重组疫苗在无风险国家似乎是一种很有前途的候选疫苗，并且可能是根除 PPR 全球战略的重要组成部分。