• Vaccine Name: Coxevac
• Target Pathogen: Coxiella burnetii
• Target Disease: Q fever
• Tradename: Coxevax
• Vaccine Ontology ID: VO_0004134
• Type: Inactivated or "killed" vaccine
• Preparation: Coxevac vaccine is prepared with Nine Mile strain of C. burnetii in yolk sacs of pathogen-free embryonated hen eggs. The vaccine consists of purified formaldehyde inactivated phase I C. burnetii corpuscular antigens. It is standardized at 100 μg of antigens in 1 ml. The vaccine is then preserved by thiomersale (Arricau-Bouvery et al., 2005).
• Description: Coxevac vaccine is an inactivated phase I vaccine commercially available in Slovakia (Arricau-Bouvery et al., 2005).

Goat Response

• Vaccination Protocol: One group of goat (one- and two year-old) were immunized subcutaneously with either Coxevac or Chlamyvax FQ six weeks before mating. Three weeks after initial vaccination, a booster dose was injected. A group of unvaccinated goats served as the control (Arricau-Bouvery et al., 2005).
• Immune Response: After the goats were vaccinated and before the challenge, the antibody response was higher in the group vaccinated with Coxevac than the group vaccinated with phase II vaccine Chlamyvax FQ. This showed that the phase I vaccine antigens were more immunogenic than phase II vaccine antigens. About 7 weeks after challenge, goats vaccinated with Coxevac had lower antibody rates than those of goats vaccinated with Chlamyvax FQ, indicating that the phase I vaccine Coxevac was more sufficient in controlling bacterial infection (Arricau-Bouvery et al., 2005).
• Challenge Protocol: The groups of goats were challenged with 10^4 infective mouse doses (I.M.D.) of CbC1 strain C. burnetii 105 days after booster dose, injected subcutaneously in the front right shoulder (Arricau-Bouvery et al., 2005).
• Efficacy: Coxevac showed significant protection against abortion and C. burnetii shedding in milk, feces, placenta, and vaginal secretions. Results showed that 75% and 100% of the control goats had abortion and contaminated placenta, respectively. In comparison, only 6% and 37.5% of the goats vaccinated with Coxevac had abortion and contaminated placenta, respectively (Arricau-Bouvery et al., 2005).