Preliminary assessment of binary ethylenimine inactivated and saponized cutaneous warts (BPV-2) therapeutic vaccine for enzootic bovine haematuria in hill cows

A preliminary therapeutic vaccine trial was conducted in hill cows to evaluate the therapeutic potential of binary ethylenimine (BEI) inactivated and saponized bovine papillomavirus-2 (BPV-2) for enzootic bovine haematuria (EBH). Although the vaccine failed to show favorable clinical vaccine results in treatment of EBH affected cows at 120 days post-vaccination but immunopathological responses were encouraging. A significant difference was observed in humoral (against Brucella abortus strain 19S) and cell-mediated (in vivo phytohaemagglutination delayed type hypersensitivity (PHA DTH) test and CD4+/CD8+ T-cells ratio by FACS analysis) immune responses following vaccination. The vaccinated animals grossly failed to show regression of bladder tumours but microscopically engorgement and marked perivascular infiltration of mononuclear cells was observed which are indicative of the induction of initial stages of tumour regression. Overall results indicated that the therapeutic vaccine developed can have potentials for treating EBH in cows, for which further modifications in vaccine dose and field trial is required.