Multivalent approach for the improvement of inactivated vaccines against small ruminant diseases in Africa (MultiVacc)

Heartwater and contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCCP) are two diseases that constitute major threats to small ruminant (grazing animals such as goats and sheep) production in developing countries, notably in Africa. Although commercial vaccines are currently available, they present so many limitations that vaccination is hardly ever implemented in the field.

This project supports both the development of a combined heartwater-CCPP vaccine conferring protection after a single injection and the validation of co-administrations with a peste des petits ruminants (PPR) vaccine. PPR is an acute, highly contagious viral disease with up to 80% mortality rates. The global PPR eradication campaign is a great opportunity to target multiple diseases simultaneously. Combined vaccines will reduce the cost of vaccination, resulting in healthier goats and reduced overall mortality. This will also increase the accessibility of vaccines to goat farmers (who are often women), children, and marginalized communities in developing countries. Within 30 months, this project will perform vaccine trials in controlled and field conditions, increase capacity building at the regional level, and produce a heartwater-CCPP vaccine (or improved vaccine formulations), that will be transferred to local manufacturers at the end of the project for commercialization.

This project is a collaboration between the Centre de cooperation internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement, France, the Centre international de recherche- développement sur l’élevage en zone subhumide, Burkina Faso, and the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization.

This project is funded by the Livestock Vaccine Innovation Fund, a partnership between the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Affairs Canada, and IDRC. It represents a joint investment of CA$57 million over five years to support the development, production, and commercialization of innovative vaccines against priority livestock diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.