Vaccination against Bordetella bronchiseptica infection in dogs using a heat-killed bacterial vaccine.

A group of eight-week-old dogs was inoculated with a heat-killed suspension of Bordetella bronchiseptica by the intramuscular route on two occasions at an interval of two weeks. All vaccinated animals developed high circulating agglutinin titres by two weeks after the second inoculation at which time the vaccinated dogs and a comparable group of unvaccinated animals were challenged by exposure to an aerosol of live B bronchiseptica. Both vaccinated and unvaccinated dogs subsequently developed clinical respiratory disease characterised by persistent coughing but the onset of disease in vaccinated animals was delayed by up to five days when compared with the controls. B bronchiseptica was isolated from the nasal cavity, tracheobronchial tree and lung parenchyma of vaccinated and control dogs.