Raccoon poxvirus as a mucosal vaccine vector for domestic cats.

In the present study, we evaluated both the immunogenicity and safety of recombinant raccoon poxvirus (RCN) as a mucosal vaccine vector for domestic cats. RCN is an orthopoxvirus that was isolated from healthy raccoons and has been used experimentally as a vaccine vector for rabies and other antigens in a variety of species, including raccoons, skunks, foxes, bobcats, rabbits, domestic cats, piglets, sheep and non-human primates. We evaluated the antibody response induced by a recombinant RCN vaccine expressing the rabies-G glycoprotein (RCN/rabies-G) administered to cats by the oral (PO), intranasal (IN), conjunctival (CO) or intranasal/conjunctival (IN/CO) route (dose: 10 plaque forming units or PFU).