An oral bait vaccination approach for the Tasmanian devil facial tumor diseases
Areas covered: We review DFT control approaches and propose a rabies-style oral bait vaccine (OBV) platform for DFTs. This approach has an extensive safety record and was a primary tool in large-scale rabies virus elimination from wild carnivores across diverse landscapes. Like rabies virus, DFTs are transmitted by oral contact, so immunizing the oral cavity and stimulating resident memory cells could be advantageous. Additionally, exposing infected devils that already have tumors to OBVs could serve as an oncolytic virus immunotherapy. The primary challenges may be identifying appropriate DFT-specific antigens and optimization of field delivery methods.
Expert opinion: DFT2 is currently found on a peninsula in southern Tasmania, so an OBV that could eliminate DFT2 should be the priority for this vaccine approach. Translation of an OBV approach to control DFTs will be challenging, but the approach is feasible for combatting ongoing and future disease threats.
Funding
Australian Research Council
History
Publication title
Expert Review of VaccinesVolume
19Pagination
1-10ISSN
1476-0584Department/School
Menzies Institute for Medical ResearchPublisher
Taylor & FrancisPlace of publication
United KingdomRights statement
Copyright 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis GroupRepository Status
- Restricted