Abstract
Porcine adenovirus (PAdV) has many qualities which make it an ideal choice for use as a delivery vector in swine. It is a low grade pathogen, present almost world-wide in a number of serotypes varying in their virulence and tissue tropism, which may allow for serotype specific vaccine targeting. PAdV is species specific having only been isolated from swine, reducing the possibility of its spread to other animals or man following administration. When engineered to contain a foreign gene, recombinant PAdV (rPAdV) can be grown to high titres in tissue culture cells making it cheap to produce. Knowledge of the complete nucleotide sequence of the PAdV genome has enabled rationally directed insertions of foreign genes which remain stably inserted in the genome and can be expressed at high levels following delivery to the target host. Importantly, recombinant PAdV can be administered by injection or by the oral route in feed or drinking water. We have delivered a range of antigens and immunomodulatory molecules to commercially available pigs using rPAdV and found it to be a very effective delivery system. Significantly, recombinant PAdV serotype 3 is highly effective as a delivery vehicle even when administered in the face of high levels of artificially induced serotype specific neutralising antibody to the vector.