DEVELOPMENT OF AN EXPERIMENTAL TISSUE-CULTURE VACCINE AGAINST MEDITERRANEAN THEILERIOSIS IN SPAIN

Vaccines against Mediterranean theileriosis have been developed in sev eral countries where the disease is an economic problem. Tissue cultur e vaccines have been widely and successfully used to immunize cattle. Although Mediterranean theileriosis represents a constraint to dairy c attle production in Spain, no vaccines against this disease have been developed previously. The successful development of a tissue culture v accine consisting of attenuated Theileria annulata schizont infected c ells from an enzootic area of Spain and its efficacy under experimenta l conditions is reported. Vaccinated calves were resistant to homologo us challenge showing to signs of theileriosis while non-vaccinated cal ves showed typical signs of disease.