Fig. 10: ASFV-specific immune responses following immunisation of pigs with GeorgiaΔBDKE-CmutQ96R/K108D.

a The numbers of IFN-γ producing cells in PBMCs collected pre-immunisation, pre-boost or pre-challenge (x-axis) and stimulated with Georgia 2007/1 isolate were measured by ELISpot assays. Pigs in groups D, X, and Y were immunised and boosted with 10², 10³, and 10⁴ TCID₅₀ GΔBDKE-CmutQ96R/K108D, while Group C was only primed with 10⁴ TCID₅₀ GΔBDKE-CmutQ96R/K108D. Each dot/symbol represents the mean frequencies of IFN-γ producing cells per million PBMCs from an individual pig in each group. The standard error mean (SEM) shown is for the average mean frequencies per group. Two-way repeated measure ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test was performed to find differences between the different groups, where * denotes p < 0.05. b Antibody responses of pigs were measured on different days pre and post-immunisation and challenge using a blocking ELISA against ASFV VP72 protein. Results are presented as percentage of blocking where values above 50% blocking were considered as positive antibody responses, while anything below 40% was considered as negative. Samples with blocking between 40-50% were considered as doubtful. c The percentage of blocking for VP72 was also compared between Group Y and Group C, where both groups received 10⁴ TCID₅₀ GΔBDKE-CmutQ96R/K108D, but only Group Y was given a booster dose at 21 dpi. d The levels of B125R antibodies in pigs vaccinated with MLV candidates¹⁴ that have an intact B125R gene and the current vaccine MLV which has the B125R gene deleted (GΔBDKE-CmutQ96R/K108D) were evaluated using an in house ELISA. The cut-off of 0.214 was determined using the mean + 2 SD (standard deviation) of the 60 pre-immune serum evaluated.