95% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Infectious Diseases
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1571409
Protective efficacy of inactivated FHV-1 vaccine in cats following challenge with the Chinese field strains
Provisionally accepted- South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
Feline herpesvirus-1 (FHV-1) is a leading cause of feline viral rhinotracheitis (FVR), which mainly presents upper respiratory tract symptoms. Vaccination is the most effective strategy for controlling FHV-1. Prior to the initiation of this study,Currently, China does not have domestically producedits own commercially available FHV-1 vaccines using field strain as antigenic component and most corresponding imported vaccines contained feline viral rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, and panleukopenia (FVRCP) antigens. However, the protective efficacy of these vaccines against the prevalent FHV-1 strains in China remains unclear. In the present study, a total of 12 cats were randomly divided into 3 groups, which were vaccinated with FHV-1 field vaccine (Group 1 [an inactivated vaccine developed by ourselves using the Chinese field strain FHV-1 2020GD02]) and FVRCP vaccine (Group 2) and PBS (Group 3) as control respectively. These animals received two vaccinations with a 21-day interval and were challenged with 2020GD02 at 21 days after the second vaccination. Clinical signs, serological responses, viral shedding, and histopathological changes were used to estimate protective efficacy of the two vaccines. Compared to Group 2, animals in Group 1 produced higher level FHV-1 antibody titers during immune processes. After challenge, Group 3 developed typical FVR. In contrast, animals in both Groups 1 and 2 showed significantly fewer clinical signs, viral shedding, and pathological changes, but could not provide complete protection. Our results provided a reference for further FHV-1 vaccines development in China.
Keywords: Feline herpesvirus type 1, Vaccine, Immunogenicity, Infectious Disease, feline viral rhinotracheitis
Received: 05 Feb 2025; Accepted: 01 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Jiang, Lai, Deng, Zhong, Li and Lu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Gang Lu, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.