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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.

Sec. Veterinary and Zoonotic Infection

Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1628877

This article is part of the Research TopicPerspectives in Veterinary and Zoonotic Infection: 2025View all articles

A DNA vaccine candidate provides protection against Rift Valley Fever virus in sheep under natural field conditions

Provisionally accepted
Moufid MhamadiMoufid Mhamadi1George (Giorgi) BabuadzeGeorge (Giorgi) Babuadze2Aminata BadjiAminata Badji1Marie-Edith Nepveu-TraversyMarie-Edith Nepveu-Traversy3El Hadji NDIAYEEl Hadji NDIAYE1Alioune GayeAlioune Gaye1Mignane NDIAYEMignane NDIAYE1Moundhir MhamadiMoundhir Mhamadi1Frank William MendyFrank William Mendy1Cheikh Talibouya TouréCheikh Talibouya Touré1Idrissa DIENGIdrissa DIENG1Moussa DiaMoussa Dia1Ndeye Sakha BobNdeye Sakha Bob1Marc-Antoine de La VegaMarc-Antoine de La Vega2Ousmane FayeOusmane Faye1Amadou Alpha SallAmadou Alpha Sall1Mawlouth DIALLOMawlouth DIALLO1Gary KobingerGary Kobinger2,3Oumar FayeOumar Faye1Hugues Fausther-BovendoHugues Fausther-Bovendo2*
  • 1The Pasteur Institute of Dakar, Dakar, Senegal
  • 2University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, United States
  • 3Global Urgent and Advanced Research and Development, Batiscan, Canada

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The Rift Valley Fever virus (RVFV) is a mosquito-borne zoonotic pathogen that causes significant morbidity and mortality in livestock. Infection in pregnant livestock or young animals is associated with high rates of abortions, stillbirths, fetal mortality, and elevated case fatality. Vaccination of livestock is considered the most effective countermeasure to reduce the impact of RVFV on both animal and human health. In this study, we developed a veterinary DNA vaccine candidate against RVFV and evaluated its immunogenicity and protective efficacy in sheep raised under natural field conditions in Senegal, West Africa. The vaccine induced a robust humoral response, characterized by high neutralizing antibody titers, and conferredprovided protection, with only 3.2%as 14.3% of the control group werevaccinated animal infected compared to only 14.33.2% of the vaccinated in the control group. This study highlights the potential of DNA-based RVFV vaccines as a safe, effective and affordable alternative to existing veterinary vaccines.

Keywords: RVFV, DNA vaccine, electroporation (EP), Sheep, field study, neutralizing antibodies (NAbs), Glycoprotein precursor, Veterinary vaccine

Received: 15 May 2025; Accepted: 07 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Mhamadi, Babuadze, Badji, Nepveu-Traversy, NDIAYE, Gaye, NDIAYE, Mhamadi, Mendy, Touré, DIENG, Dia, Bob, de La Vega, Faye, Sall, DIALLO, Kobinger, Faye and Fausther-Bovendo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Hugues Fausther-Bovendo, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, United States

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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