The root of the medicinal plant Halothamnus somalensis traditionally used to treat endo-parasites of animals and humans was evaluated against endo-parasites in naturally infected goats. The goats were drenched with a crude preparation of the plant at two different doses (0.5 and 2 g/kg live weight [LW]). The dose of 2g/kg LW reduced faecal egg count (EPG) by 50%. Packed cell volume (PCV) was also significantly higher for goats that received 2 g/kg LW. The reduction in faecal EPG and increase in PCV values were negatively correlated. There was no effect on LW change but body condition score was higher for goats that received treatment than goats in the control group. Future research should focus on evaluation of different extracts from different parts of the plant using laboratory animals and small ruminants.

This article describes the results of a pre-clinical study of immunogenicity and effectiveness of an inactivated pandemic vaccine (Refluvac®) on model mice. Mice received two 0.5 ml intraperitoneal inoculations with an interval of 14 days in three doses: containing 10.0, 5.0 and 2.5 μg HA (hemagglutinin) per animal. As a comparator preparation, the study used a semi-finished product (SP) vaccine diluted with phosphate buffered saline (PBS) to obtain HA concentrations of 5 μg and 10 μg. For a control group, the study used PBS as the negative control. We determined the vaccine’s protective effectiveness level by analysing its response in animals challenged with a pandemic А/California/7/09 (Н1N1) pdm09 virus. We assessed the immunogenicity of the vaccine by examining the mean geometric titre (GMT) of antibodies against the influenza virus as measured by hemagglutination-inhibition test (HAI). In the course of testing the GMT, we noted a dependence of the concentration of antibodies in serum on the vaccine’s antigen load. The highest GMT was observed in the group of mice vaccinated with a HA load of 10.0 μg – it amounted to 278.6 (95% CI, 135.6 to 572.4). We established a high tolerability of the vaccine tested. Our study shows that Refluvac® yields a high degree of protectivity against influenza A/H1N1 and prevents clinical signs, death or accumulation of influenza virus in the organs of vaccinated animals. There were deaths and clinical signs including general depression, hypodynamia and anorexia in the negative control group. The results of our study were used for the clinical study of the first Kazakhstan produced Refluvac® vaccine against pandemic A/H1N1 influenza virus.