Response of adult human volunteers to oral administration of bovine and bovine/human reassortant rotaviruses

Small groups of adult volunteers, in sequence, were inoculated orally with inactivated purified bovine rotavirus of strain NCDV, with live NCDV purified or unpurified and with two different NCDV × human rotavirus reassortant viruses. One of five volunteers given 200 μg of ultraviolet-inactivated NCDV developed a virus-neutralizing (VN) and a binding antibody response detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Four of 10 volunteers given from 1 × 10 6 to 1 × 10 8 p.f.u. of live NCDV developed VN antibody, but nine of 10 responded when ELISA, HAI and radioimmuno-precipitation tests for serum antibody were also considered. Two different NCDV × human serotype I Wa strain virus reassortants, each containing Wa gene segment 9 and the serotype 1 neutralization phenotype, were administered orally in doses up to 10 6 p.f.u. The reassortants were relatively ineffective in eliciting a serum antibody response at the dosage level employed.