Current status of virally vectored immunocontraception for biological control of mice

Over the past fifteen years, considerable progress has been made in developing biological agents to control wild pest animals that limit fertility rather than increase mortality. The approach, termed virally vectored immunocontraception (VVIC), involves genetically engineering viruses that stimulate the immune system of an infected animal to attack its own reproductive cells, thus rendering it sterile. Our program has focused on the development of mouse-specific viruses that cause infertility by triggering an autoimmune response against the zona pellucida proteins that surround the developing oocyte. The immunocontraceptive vaccine is intended to be transmissible (self-disseminating), and in conjunction with other management practices, will be used to help prevent mouse plagues in Australia. Results from laboratory and field studies so far support the feasibility of applying a recombinant self-disseminating murine cytomegalovirus expressing mouse zona pellucida subunit 3 for mouse control.