VARIABILITY OF SERUM ANTIBODY-RESPONSES OF GOAT KIDS TO A COMMERCIAL CLOSTRIDIUM-PERFRINGENS EPSILON-TOXOID VACCINE

Twenty-nine Angora goats were used in a trial of a commercial enteroto xaemia (pulpy kidney disease) vaccine. The animals were allocated to f our groups, of which three received an initial dose of vaccine, two al so received a booster of the same vaccine either 28 or 42 days after t he first vaccination, and the fourth remained as an unvaccinated contr ol group. An indirect ELISA technique was used to measure the titres o f Clostridium perfringens type D epsilon antitoxin in serum samples ta ken before vaccination and 17, 28, 42, 59, 70, 86, 98 and 128 days aft er vaccination. There was a wide range of antibody titres after vaccin ation, and the great majority of the vaccinated animals had titres bel ow the protective level, arbitrarily set at 0.25 iu/ml, by day 98.