The objective of this study was to determine the proportion of horses vaccinated against WNV that developed virus-neutralizing antibodies in the serum. We used a pre and post exposure field trial to test the hypothesis that among a group of naïve horses vaccinated against WNV, the levels of virus neutralizing antibody titers will vary between different animals and at different times of bleeding. Thirty nine naive horses were bled, vaccinated with a formalin-inactivated WNV vaccine, bled after 3 weeks, and again twice 4 weeks after a first and second booster vaccine. PRNT assays were run on the serum at 1:10 and 1:100 dilutions; 46% and 87% of horses sero-converted after the first and the booster vaccinations respectively. All horses which received the second booster vaccine sero-converted. The proportion of horses with SN antibody titers pre-vaccination did not differ from that at first vaccination, but differed from that at booster vaccinations. The proportion of horses with SN antibody titers after the first and second booster vaccinations did not differ significantly, an indication that the first booster dose is required and the second is probably not. Variation in sero-conversion among horses vaccinated indicated variation in clinical outcome, with horses that get a booster vaccine being better protected than those vaccinated once or not at all.
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