E. Pipano, VACCINES AGAINST HEMOPARASITIC DISEASES IN ISRAEL WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO QUALITY ASSURANCE, Tropical Animal Health and Production, 29(4), 1997, pp. 86-90
Four vaccines against hemoparasitic diseases (anaplasmosis, babesiosis
and theileriosis) and a vaccine against besnoitiosis are currently us
ed in Israel. These vaccines contain live attenuated parasites derived
from cell culture (Theileria annulata and Besnoitia besnoiti) or from
blood of infected, splenectomized cavlves (Babesia bigemina, B. bovis
and Anaplasma centrale). Cryopreserved master seed is used to initiat
e production of the vaccines. Quality control performed during the pre
production period is particularly important with blood-derived vaccine
s. Post production quality control comprises sterility, potency (viabi
lity of immunizing organisms), safety (degree of attenuation) and effi
cacy (capacity to protect against virulent parasite stock). All vaccin
es are stored and dispatched to the field in a concentrated frozen sta
te. The culture-derived vaccines are safe for all varieties of cattle,
regardless of age or physiological condition, whereas the blood-deriv
ed vaccines are recommended mainly for young cattle, the age limit var
ying with the type of vaccine and breed of cattle. The viability of T.
annulata infected cells in the anti-theilerial vaccine is tested afte
r thawing by in vitro plating efficiency and the infectivity of blood-
derived vaccines is tested by titration in susceptible cattle.