Synthetic RNA designs for defective virus vaccines of African horse sickness disease

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African horse sickness is a viral disease of horses that results in up to 90% death in naïve but can also infect without severe disease symptom other animals (mules, donkeys, zebras, goats), which act as reservoir. AHSV is endemic to the sub-Saharan Africa but there has been the occasional outbreak of the disease in Spain and Portugal which had significant social and economic impact. The virus is spread by biting midges that are found throughout Europe and the UK, increasing the potential risk of an outbreak. This is becoming a greater concern as climate changes influence both the overall populations of these midges and their dispersal. There are current vaccines available for AHSV but they are considered unsafe, causing adverse side effects and have potential for releasing different type of the viruses into the environment. This proposal will develop vaccines that will be highly safe and will protect the animals from infection without the side effects. The new vaccines are only possible due to recent discoveries made by a research team at the LSHTM, and will use technologies, which are not yet available in other public or commercial organizations.