Coccidiosis vaccines
The present invention discloses a vaccine that provides protection from coccidiosis, and methods of making and using the vaccine alone, or in combination with other protective agents.
1. A vaccine comprising a first strain of an Eimeria species and a second strain of said Eimeria species:
wherein the first strain and the second strain have an asynchronous prepatent period; and wherein the first strain is a non-attenuated strain and the second strain is a precocious strain.
2. The vaccine of claim 1 comprising non-attenuated Eimeria oocysts and precocious Eimeria oocysts.
3. The vaccine of claim 2 in which the quantity of non-attenuated Eimeria oocysts is about 10 to about 1000.
4. The vaccine of claim 2 wherein the quantity of precocious Eimeria oocysts is about 100 to about 10,000.
5. The vaccine of claim 4 wherein the quantity of non-attenuated Eimeria oocysts is about 10 to about 1000.
6. The vaccine of claim 2 that further comprises non-attenuated Eimeria merozoites and sporozoites, and precocious Eimeria merozoites and sporozoites.
7. The vaccine of claim 1 wherein said species of Eimeria is selected from the group consisting of E. tenella, E. acervulina, E. maxima, E. necatrix, E. mitis, E. praecox, E. mivati and E. brunetti.
8. The vaccine of claim 7 wherein said species of Eimeria is E. maxima.
9. The vaccine of claim 8 further comprising a strain of E. tenella , a strain of E. acervulina , and a strain of E. mivati.
10. The vaccine of claim 9 wherein the ratio of the non-attenuated strain of E. maxima to the precocious strain of E. maxima is about 2 to about 1.
11. The vaccine of claim 8 wherein the ratio of the non-attenuated strain of E. maxima to the precocious strain of E. maxima is about 2 to about 1.
12. A method of immunizing an animal subject against coccidiosis comprising administering to the animal an immunologically effective amount of the vaccine of claim 7 .
13. The method of claim 12 wherein the vaccine is administered orally.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the vaccine is administered orally by a method selected from the group consisting of adding the vaccine to the drinking water of the animal, adding the vaccine to the food of the animal, applying the vaccine to the eye of the animal, and spraying the vaccine over the animal.
15. The method of claim 12 wherein the vaccine is administered in ovo.
16. The method of claim 12 wherein the animal is a domesticated bird.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein the domesticated bird is selected from the group consisting of a chicken, a turkey, a duck, and a game bird.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein the domesticated bird is a chicken.
19. An immunogenic composition comprising a first Eimeria maxima strain and a second Eimeria maxima strain; and further comprises a strain from one or more additional species of Eimeria selected from the group consisting of E. tenella, E. acervulina, E. necatrix, E. mitis, E. praecox, E. mivati and E. brunette;
wherein the first Eimeria maxima strain and the second Eimeria maxima strain have an asynchronous prepatent period; and wherein the first strain is a non-attenuated strain and the second strain is a precocious strain.
20. The immunogenic composition of claim 19 wherein said one or more additional species of Eimeria are E. tenella, E. acervulina , and E. mivati.
21. An immunogenic composition comprising a first strain of an Eimeria species and a second strain of said Eimeria species; wherein the first strain and the second strain have an asynchronous prepatent period; and
wherein the first strain is a non-attenuated strain and the second strain is a precocious strain.
22. The immunogenic composition of claim 21 wherein said Eimeria species is selected from the group consisting of E. meleagrimitis, E. adenoeides, E. qallopavonis, E. dispersa, E. meleaaridis, E. innocua , and E. subrotunda.