36 Microbes and Health ISSN: 2226-0 153 (Print) 2305-3542 (Online) http://journal.bsvmph.org/ Microbes and Health, January 2015, 4(1): 36-38. SHORT COMMUNICATION ELISA Based Anthrax Antibody Titer in Cattle Induced by Locally Prepared Anthrax Vaccine Originated from Sterne F-24 Strain in Bangladesh Jayedul Hassan, Md. Bahanur Rahman, Shah Md. Ziqrul Haq Chowdhury 1 , Shushanto Kumar Rabidas 2 , Md. Shafiullah Parvej and KHM Nazmul Hussain Nazir * Department of Microbiology and Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh. 1 Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC), Dhaka, Bangladesh. 2 Lal Teer Livestock Research and Development Farm, Bongao, Uthura, Valuka, Mymensingh. * Corresponding author‟s email: nazir@bau.edu.bd ABSTRACT Vaccination is usually practiced to prevent and control anthrax in Bangladesh. For this purpose, vaccine prepared from Sterne F-24 strain ofBacillus anthracisby Livestock Research Institute (LRI), Mohakhali, Dhakahas long been used in this country. However, in some cases anthrax occurred in vaccinated animals in Bangladesh. A total of 100 cattle at LalTeer Livestock Research and Development Farm, LalTeerLivestock Limited, Bangladesh, aging between 3-6 years and weighing between 250-400 kg were randomly selected for vaccination purpose. Blood samples (n=100) were collected before the vaccination for collecting pre-vaccination serum, andthe animals were vaccinated (at 1 mL/animal; 1x10 7 spores/mL) with the anthrax vaccine produced by LRI. All blood samples from the vaccinated animals were collected on day 7, 28, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 240, 270, 300, 330, and 360 of post-vaccination, and serum samples were prepared. The antibody levels in the serum samples against anthrax were monitored using an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Over the course of 12 months, the antibody titers were found at the level higher than the reference value. Though there were reports on anthrax suspected cases in this farm, no such cases were reported during the study period. Thus, the vaccine appears to induce adequate antibody response against anthrax in Bangladesh. Keywords: Cattle, ELISA, Antibody titer, Vaccine, Sterne F-24 strain, Bangladesh © 2015 Microbes and Health. All rights reserved Introduction Anthrax (popularly known as “Torka” in Bangladesh) is an acute infectious disease caused by Bacillus anthracis (Weisss et al., 2007; OIE, 2008). Although the disease is found in almost all countries, it is mostlyprevalent in tropical and sub-tropical countries (Biswas et al., 2011). In recent years, the disease has been reported in Sweden (Lewerin et al., 2010), Italy (Fasanella et al., 2010), USA (Mongoh et al., 2008), Australia (Durrheim et al., 2009), and some other countries in Europe. B. anthracis forms spore in unfavorable conditions, which is resistant to heat and chemical disinfectants, and this may persist in soil as viable for several decades (Hirsh and Zee, 1999; Dragon et al., 2001; OIE, 2004). Primarily, herbivores like cattle, sheep, goat, horse and pig are affected with anthrax (Ahsan et al., 2013) and the disease is usually fatal in ruminants (Islam et al., 2013).In humans, anthrax is almost invariably contract anthrax directly or indirectly from animals (WHO, 2008). In Bangladesh, the disease was sporadically reported in animals and human until 2009 (Ahmed et al., 2010). In recent years, the disease occurred repeatedly; the outbreaks indicated that the disease is no longer sporadic, rather enzootic in Bangladesh (Ahmed et al., 2010; Fasanella et al., 2013; Ahsan et al., 2013).In different areas of Bangladesh, 14 outbreaks occurred during the period of August 2009 to October 2010, affecting 140 animals and subsequently to 273 humans. This created a panic to the people. As a result in 2010, Bangladesh Government announced a „Red Alert‟ throughout the country. Consequently, beef price and foreign exchange were decreased by 126% and 17% respectively, and about 35% small scale butchers were drove out of business in 2010 (Uddin, 2011). Along with social and environmental factor scarcity and limited vaccination was mentioned as one of the contributing factors of repeated outbreaks of anthrax in Bangladesh (Chakraborty et al., 2012; Islam et al., 2013; Hassan et al., 2015). Vaccination is usually practiced in Bangladesh to prevent anthrax in animals. For this vaccination, Sterne F-24 stain of B. anthracis originated from Australia is used in Bangladesh (Roy et al., 2013). A single dose of vaccine is given to each animal that protects the animal for one year from anthrax. The protective effect of a single dose of strain 34F2 vaccine is said to last about one year (Sterne, 1939). However, Successful development of protective immunity against anthrax in animals requires effective vaccine and proper vaccination technique. Also, a single dose of Sterne vaccine may not be sufficient to ensure protective immunity in the animal to last for a year, and more than one initial dose of the Sterne vaccine may be necessary (Turnbull et al., 2004; WHO, 2008; Mongho et al., 2008). Very few studies focusing on immunological characterization have been conducted with cattle and goats, and the previous studies covered a limited period of time (Roy et al., 2013; Dipti et al., 2013; Nagarajan et al., 2015). Moreover, the previous studies have been conducted with a limited number of animals in experimental condition. Recently, we reported the causes of repeated anthrax outbreak in Bangladesh as well as the present status of knowledge, attitude, and behavior of people towards anthrax (Ahsan et al., 2013; Hassan et al., 2015). Here, we determined the titer of anthrax antibody level in cattle under commercial farm condition throughout the year using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Materials and Methods The study was performed in a commercial animal facility at Lal Teer Livestock Research and Development Farm, Lal Teer Livestock Limited, Bangladesh, located at Bongao, Uthura, Valuka, Mymensingh, during the period from April 2013 to April 2014. The anthrax vaccine was collected from the Livestock Research Institute (LRI), Mohakhali, Dhaka,