• Vaccine Name: BoNT/C
• Target Pathogen: Clostridium botulinum
• Target Disease: Botulism
• Vaccine Ontology ID: VO_0004004
• Type: Toxoid vaccine
• Adjuvant:
  • Adjuvant name:
  • VO adjuvant ID: VO_0000884
• Preparation: The vaccine used was a bacterin-toxoid vaccine prepared from a pure culture of C. botulinum type C, inactivated with formalin and combined with
  adjuvant (Martinez et al., 1999).
• Virulence: (Martinez et al., 1999)
• Description: Botulism, caused by Clostridium botulinum type C, is one of the most important diseases of wild waterfowl. During outbreaks, management usually consists of collection and disposal of sick and dead birds to reduce the amount of carcass material that can act as substrate for further toxin production. Immunization might be used to reduce the risk of re-intoxication in treated waterfowl. Immunization has been used to protect
  pheasants (Phasianus colchicus), broiler chickens, and other birds (Martinez et al., 1999).

Ducks Response

• Host Strain: mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) and Northern pintails (anas acuta)
• Vaccination Protocol: Three separate trials were conducted. In Trial I, 60 adult male mallards were divided randomly into two groups of 30. Each bird in the immunized group was injected on the dorsum of the lower neck with 1 ml of vaccine. The 30 control birds were injected with 1 ml of sterile 0.85% saline at the same site. On days 5, 10 and 15 post-immunization, a sub-group of 10 immunized birds and a subgroup of 10 control birds were moved to a separate room and each bird was given approximately 4.5 x 10^4 mouse lethal doses (MLD50) of type C botulinum toxin by gastric intubation. The birds were then observed several times each day. Clinical signs of botulism were recorded as Stage I (bird is able to walk but has paresis or ataxia), Stage II (bird has difficulty walking, often using the wings to assist, but is able to evade capture and can reach food and water), or Stage III (bird is prostrate and paralyzed). Birds in Stage III were euthanized by overexposure to anaesthetic, and a necropsy was performed (Martinez et al., 1999).
• Persistence: In Trials I and II, protection was not evident at 5 days but developed by 10 days pi and appeared to persist for 90 days (Martinez et al., 1999).
• Side Effects: None noted (Martinez et al., 1999)
• Efficacy: The results of Trials I and II confirm that a single dose of toxoid vaccine will provide significant protection to ducks against botulism. Approximately 85% of the immunized mallards and pintails did not have any clinical signs of botulism when challenged at 10 and 15 d, while all of the control birds had clinical botulism (Martinez et al., 1999).
• Description: The purpose of the study was to determine the protection afforded by a single dose of a commercially available vaccine given to ducks under experimental conditions, and to test the effectiveness of simultaneous administration of antitoxin and vaccine to intoxicated birds, as might be done under field conditions (Martinez et al., 1999).