title: Vaccinating captive chimpanzees to save wild chimpanzees.
abstract: Infectious disease has only recently been recognized as a major threat to the survival of Endangered chimpanzees and Critically Endangered gorillas in the wild. One potentially powerful tool, vaccination, has not been deployed in fighting this disease threat, in good part because of fears about vaccine safety. Here we report on what is, to our knowledge, the first trial in which captive chimpanzees were used to test a vaccine intended for use on wild apes rather than humans. We tested a virus-like particle vaccine against Ebola virus, a leading source of death in wild gorillas and chimpanzees. The vaccine was safe and immunogenic. Captive trials of other vaccines and of methods for vaccine delivery hold great potential as weapons in the fight against wild ape extinction.
authors.affiliation: Integrated BioTherapeutics, Inc., Gaithersburg, MD 20878;
authors.forename: Kelly L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Warfield
authors.affiliation: New Iberia Research Center, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, New Iberia, LA 70562-3610;
authors.forename: Jason E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Goetzmann
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21702; and.
authors.forename: Julia E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Biggins
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21702; and.
authors.forename: Mary Beth
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Kasda
authors.affiliation: Integrated BioTherapeutics, Inc., Gaithersburg, MD 20878;
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Unfer
authors.affiliation: Integrated BioTherapeutics, Inc., Gaithersburg, MD 20878;
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vu
authors.affiliation: Integrated BioTherapeutics, Inc., Gaithersburg, MD 20878;
authors.forename: M Javad
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Aman
authors.affiliation: Division of Virology, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21702; and.
authors.forename: Gene Gerrard
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Olinger
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaelogy and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3QG, United Kingdom pdw36@cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Peter D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Walsh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000276:immunology; D018899:CpG Islands; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D046129:Ebola Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D056727:Endangered Species; D005260:Female; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000276:immunology*; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: D046129:Ebola Vaccines; D007074:Immunoglobulin G
keywords: conservation; filovirus; wildlife disease