Deciphering antigenic determinants of humoral immune response upon vaccination against Turkey Meningoencephalitis Virus (TMEV)
2Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, IMRIC
3Poultry Industry Council, Poultry Industry Council
Turkey Meningoencephalitis Virus (TMEV), an avian flavivirus of Ntaya serocomplex, is endemic in Israel and imposes a significant burden on domesticated turkey farming, causing neuroparalytic disease and high mortality rates. TMEV is closely related to Bagaza virus, a flavivirus occasionally causing encephalitis in humans. Routine vaccination with a live attenuated TMEV vaccine is crucial for controlling the disease, but the currently used vaccine does not provide robust and sufficient protection to prevent TMEV outbreaks. We focus on establishment of correlates of protection to instruct assessment of vaccine efficiency and facilitate design and development of novel vaccines. Using virus neutralization test and serological immune-assays using recombinant viral antigens we aim to establish reliable correlates of protection by laboratory serological tests. We assessed the correlation between results of traditional HI and neutralization assays, as well as with ELISA using inactivated virions and TMEV recombinant proteins. This work establishes a comprehensive and improved approach for serological surveillance and evaluation, offering significant advantages for both research and routine vaccination monitoring of TMEV in turkey flocks, potentially applicable to studying Bagaza virus immunity in humans.