Bison Integrated Genomics
The BIG Project
Activity 2
Vaccine Development
An edible tasty bait food item carrying the vaccine would allow bison to roam freely
and avoids a hands-on vaccine approach.
The Challenge
The current disease management plan for wild wood bison is to create 'management zones' where diseased bison who wander into the zones are either chased back into their herding area via helicopter or shot and killed.
With no vaccine currently available for bison to address bovine tB and brucellosis and how the disease management plan does not allow for historic natural mating of herds.
Two challenges take place, (1) disease is not being addressed to eventually get rid of the diseases in herds and (2) herds are being isolated from one another
Flavoured bait for prairie dogs to vaccinate against the plague.​
USGS National Wildlife Health Center ​
The Solution
Edible bait vaccines that
can be placed in natural grazing areas!
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Edible bait vaccines have been used in other species disease management, such as prairie dogs in the United States of America, who have been given 'peanut butter flavoured' bait pellets to vaccinate against the plague.
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The BIG Project has developed
a combined vaccine that protects against
both bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis.
The vaccine is based on a very old vaccine that
has been around for over 100 years called BCG, originally developed at the Pasteur Institute in France.
BCG is used as the base to vaccinate against tuberculosis while some elements from the bacteria that causes brucellosis is introduced into this vaccine so that when a bison ingests it through a bait, they will become protected against both TB and brucellosis