Abstract
BACKGROUND: Very few studies have evaluated the duration of immunity of Bordetella bronchiseptica vaccines in dogs, and to date, no studies have been published on the duration of immunity of oral canine Bordetella bronchiseptica vaccines. This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of a single dose of an oral B bronchiseptica vaccine in dogs when challenged 13 months after vaccination. METHODS: Two groups of approximately eight-week-old beagles were vaccinated once with 1 ml of placebo vaccine (oral, n=17) or 1 ml of Recombitek Oral Bordetella (oral, n=17). Thirteen months after vaccination, both groups were challenged with virulent B bronchiseptica via aerosolisation. RESULTS: Thirteen of 17 dogs in the placebo group (76.5 per cent) and no dogs in the Recombitek Oral Bordetella vaccine group (0.0 per cent) developed spontaneous cough of two or more consecutive days (disease case definition). Dogs in the Recombitek Oral Bordetella group had a significantly lower prevalence of disease with prevented fraction of 1 (100 per cent prevention). In addition, the number of days coughing, duration of cough and prevalence of tracheal and nasal shedding were significantly lower for dogs vaccinated with Recombitek Oral Bordetella. CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrated that vaccination with Recombitek Oral Bordetella is effective in preventing disease and reducing shedding 13 months after vaccination when compared with dogs vaccinated with a placebo.