Journal article
Antivenom production in the alpaca (Vicugna pacos): Physiological and antibody responses to monovalent and polyvalent immunisation with Australian elapid venoms
AM Padula, KD Winkel
Small Ruminant Research | ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV | Published : 2016
Abstract
Alpaca (Vicugna pacos) are easily domesticated members of the camelid family that, similarly to camels, have been shown to produce an IgG subclass that is heavy chain only IgG. This camelid type IgG has been postulated to have improved neutralising properties and reduced immunogenicity, compared with conventional mammalian IgG. This study was undertaken to describe the physiological and antibody responses of alpaca (Vicugna pacos) used for the production of an experimental camelid antivenom. Various antivenom products were developed by immunisation of alpaca with combinations of five Australian elapid snake venoms: common tiger snake (Notechis scutatus), eastern brown snake (Pseudonaja texti..
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Funding Acknowledgements
This project would not have been possible without the enthusiasm and financial support of the Australian Alpaca Association and Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation. KDW is supported by funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council. We acknowledge Frank Madaras, Peter Mirtschin and Tim Kuchel for advice with various technical aspects of snake venom research. In addition, we thank the staff at Bairnsdale Animal Hospital - Kylee, Lisa, Debbie and Stephanie for putting their time into this research. In particular AP would like to thank Allan Quirke for the hours of helping with the field work with the alpaca.