10101762Novel enhanced Streptoccocus suis vaccine for pigs (II)ClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UK_Streptococcus suis_(_S.suis_) is a bacterial pathogen that can cause serious and often fatal disease in pigs and humans. This poses a challenge to the pork industry and public health. It costs pig farmers thousands of pounds each year in losses and treatments. There are no commercial vaccines available in the UK, and the _S.suis_ vaccines used in other countries (made using killed versions of the disease-causing bacteria) have questionable effectiveness. This forces farmers to use antibiotics, which contributes to antimicrobial resistance(AMR). Reductions in productivity are also a hurdle to achieving net zero carbon dioxide emissions in the pig farming sector. _S.suis_ has various serotypes, and immunity against one does not protect against infection by others. In the UK, SS2 is the most prevalent and problematic serotype, causing the majority of _S.suis_ disease in pigs. Other main serotypes in the UK causing disease are 1, 7, and 14\. However, an effective vaccine is needed that can protect against all possible _S. suis_ serotypes, including those that may emerge in the future. Fortunately, we have developed a vaccine that can overcome bacterial diversity and may protect against multiple, if not all, serotypes. We use a harmless virus to deliver a conserved and immunogenic protein of _S.suis_ that induces an immune response in animals. Our vaccine has been shown to protect against the main SS2 serotype that currently causes the most disease, as well as cross-react with other serotypes. In this project, we aim to test whether our vaccine can also protect against SS1, a serotype that is frequently associated with disease in UK pigs but is different from SS2\. The significance of demonstrating that our single _S.suis_ vaccine can protect against SS1 better than the only commercial vaccine available in Europe (Porcilis-Strepsuis, a SS2-based vaccine) is that it would show that our single vaccine can protect pigs against multiple _S.suis_ serotypes. Our goal is to save pigs and humans from this severe bacterial infection and make pork production in England more productive, humane and sustainable, helping the pig sector meet AMR and net zero carbon-dioxide emission goals.