Immunity against the European bat rabies (Duvenhage) virus induced by rabies vaccines: an experimental study in mice.

Protection experiments were performed in mice with different inactivated vaccines prepared with the fixed rabies virus strains: PM (Pitman-Moore), PV4 (Pasteur virus) and LEP (Flury LEP) against an intracerebral challenge with a European bat virus (Duvenhage, strain Hamburg, DUV3). All vaccines protected mice against challenge with CVS (Challenge virus standard). Vaccines prepared with PV4 protected mice against a DUV3 challenge. On the contrary, PM or LEP vaccines did not protect mice against a DUV3 infection. The protection conferred by PV4 vaccines against Duvenhage could be due to the antigenic relationship which seems to exist between PV4 and European bat virus as revealed by serum-virus neutralization, absorption experiments and CTL crossreactivity. The four virus strains PAS, PV4, PM and CVS, originated from the Pasteur virus isolated in 1882 from the brain of a rabid cow, were classified in two groups on the basis of reactivity with neutralizing anti-glycoprotein monoclonal antibodies. One group contained the L. Pasteur (PAS) and the PV4 strains, the second contained PM and CVS strains. The divergence between the two virus groups possibly resulted from distinct passage histories.