Recent developments in oral bait vaccines for wildlife

Abstract

The vaccination of wildlife reservoirs of infection is important for effective disease control programs and usually requires the use of oral vaccines. Current inventions in the field of oral baits for the immunization of wildlife cover effective vaccine compositions, vaccine containers to deliver the vaccine orally to target species, and baits that specifically attract the target species. Oral bait vaccine formulations need to provide an effective field performance, safety, cost-effectiveness, less waste, and improved environmental compliance. Herein, we review recent patents in oral bait vaccine formulations for the immunization of wildlife and particularly of terrestrial wild mammals. Recent progress in this field suggests that the application of oral bait vaccines to wildlife will impact disease control in the near future.