An mRNA vaccine provides effective protection against Duck Tembusu Virus infection

As an emerging flavivirus, Duck Tembusu virus (DTMUV) causes severe neurological disorder and acute egg drop syndrome in poultry. Herein, we report the development of a highly effective mRNA vaccine against DTMUV using lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery technology. We engineered an mRNA construct encoding the pre-membrane (prM) and envelope (E) proteins of DTMUV, with an upstream signal peptide to enhance secretion. Two doses of our mRNA vaccine elicited robust neutralizing antibody titers and conferred 100% protection against challenge with a prevalent virulent DTMUV strain. Notably, in a head-to-head comparison, the neutralizing antibody titers induced by our mRNA vaccine were approximately 40-fold of a commercial live-attenuated vaccine (FX2010-180P). Importantly, our mRNA vaccine demonstrated efficient maternal antibody transfer via egg yolk deposition, indicating the potential for protecting offspring through maternal immunity. These findings demonstrate the superiority of our mRNA vaccine platform, as well as the feasibility of applying mRNA vaccines in poultry.