Animal trypanosomiasis, such as nagana, surra, and dourine, represent a significant challenge to animal health and economic development, especially in tropical and subtropical regions where livestock production is an essential component of a country’s economy. Despite advances in the control of human trypanosomiasis, animal diseases caused by several species of trypanosomes remain neglected. The lack of funding for the development of new treatments and vaccines contributes to sustaining the severe economic impacts these diseases have on the farming industry, especially in low-income rural areas. Recent advances in the understanding of the immune processes involved during infection have been essential for the development of new approaches towards disease control including vaccines. These new approaches must be part of integrated control programs, which must also include vector management and the awareness of good veterinary practices. Addressing the challenges posed by the control of animal trypanosomiasis requires collaborative and continuous efforts shared among scientists, governments, and the farming industry, if significant progress is to be made to mitigate the impact of these diseases. In this literature review, we discuss the main challenges for the development of vaccines for animal trypanosomiasis and the research underway, including the prospects for employing new vaccine platforms, such as an mRNA vaccine, vector-based vaccine, and CRISPR-attenuated parasite vaccine.

The Oropouche virus (OROV), an arbovirus transmitted primarily by the Culicoides paraensis midge, has caused significant outbreaks in the Americas, especially in the Amazon region. The virus’s spread is closely linked to a combination of environmental, climatic, and ecological factors. These include deforestation, urbanization, and changes in rainfall patterns, which influence the proliferation of vectors, and, consequently, increase the chances of mutations and reassortment events to occur. In 2024 and 2025, the number of OROV cases increased significantly, with outbreaks extending beyond the traditionally endemic Amazon region, highlighting the growing geographic expansion of the disease throughout Brazil. Despite its growing dispersion, diagnostic and therapeutic tools for OROV remain limited. Current diagnostic strategies rely almost exclusively on molecular detection methods, and there are no vaccines for effective prevention. Additionally, immunological responses to OROV infection are not fully understood, and further studies are needed. The ecological dynamics influencing OROV transmission, particularly the role of environmental changes in shaping vector populations, highlight the need for more integrated surveillance and control strategies. The ongoing expansion of OROV outside its traditional hotspots may be indicative of broader environmental shifts that facilitate viral spread. Therefore, continuous monitoring of both environmental and epidemiological data is crucial to understanding and mitigating the impact of OROV in the future. Collaborative efforts among researchers, policymakers, and local communities will be essential to prevent further outbreaks and minimize the health burden caused by OROV. This review summarizes important and up-to-date data information to the ongoing epidemic of Oropouche fever, focusing on topics that are particularly important to Public Health.

Two-dimensional cell culture (2D) is the most used technique in studies of mass production of proteins and vaccines; however, this technique is quite limited, since cells lose their phenotypic characteristics when cultured in monolayer. As an alternative, three-dimensional cell culture (3D) allowed cells to be cultured within an environment closer to their natural one, keeping in that way, their physiologic characteristics. When grown in this kind of system, cells form structures called multicellular spheroids, which present in their cores: cellular heterogeneity, microenvironment formation, and different expositions to several factors, such as nutrients and oxygen. This technique has revolutionized researches on drug development and its mechanism of action, since the results obtained in 3D cell culture are more realistic than the ones arisen from 2D cell culture. Recently, there have been developed many 3D cell culture methodologies, however, it misses technology to scale up the biomass growth, which is a great challenge for bioprocess engineers (BE). Therefore, this review aimed to show the technical reality of 3D cell culture and how such professionals can apply their engineering and life science knowledge to improve and develop new technologies that make the use of 3D cell culture feasible and widely used by biotechnological industries.

Background/Objectives: Varicellovirus bovinealpha1 and Varicellovirus bovinealpha5 (BoAHV-1 and BoAHV-5), respectively, are widely distributed pathogens that cause distinct clinical conditions in cattle including infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, infectious pustular vulvovaginitis/balanoposthitis, and meningoencephalitis. Due to the establishment of viral latency, controlling these infections is challenging, and vaccination remains the most effective strategy. In this study, vaccine candidates targeting both BoAHV-1 and BoAHV-5 were developed. Methods: A synthetic gene encoding immunodominant epitopes from the gB and gD proteins and tegument phosphoprotein of BoAHV-1 and BoAHV-5 was designed to produce a multi-epitope recombinant antigen, expressed both in a prokaryotic system (RecBoAHV) and by a modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA-BoAHV) viral vector. The binding affinity of MHC-I to bovine leukocyte antigens (BoLA) was predicted using the NetMHCpan tool (version 4.1). The immunogenicity of the vaccine candidates was evaluated in rabbit and mouse models, using prime-boost immunization protocols. Sera from bovines naturally infected with BoAHV-1 and/or BoAHV-5 were used to evaluate the chimeric protein antigenicity. Immune responses were assessed by indirect ELISA and Western blot. Results: The recombinant multi-epitope protein was effectively recognized by IgG and IgM antibodies in sera from cattle naturally infected with BoAHV-1 or BoAHV-5, confirming the antigenic specificity. Both RecBoAHV and MVA-RecBoAHV induced strong and specific humoral immune responses in rabbits following a homologous prime-boost regimen. In mice, both homologous and heterologous prime-boost protocols revealed robust immunogenicity, particularly after the second booster dose. Conclusions: These findings highlight the immunogenic potential of the RecBoAHV multi-epitope vaccine candidates for controlling BoAHV-1 and BoAHV-5 infections. Further characterization of these vaccine formulations is currently underway in bovine, the target specie.

Bovine herpesviruses comprise a diverse group of pathogens with distinct tissue tropisms, epidemiological patterns, and clinical relevance. Bovine alphaherpesviruses 1 and 5 (BoAHV-1, BoAHV-5) are the best characterized, given their association with respiratory, reproductive, and neurological disease, whereas less is known about BoAHV-2 and the gammaherpesviruses BoGHV-4 and BoGHV-6. A central challenge for control is the capacity of these viruses to establish lifelong latent or persistent infection, evade host immunity, and reactivate under physiological or stress-related conditions. This review critically examines bovine herpesvirus pathogenesis and host immune responses, emphasizing viral tropism, latency, reactivation, innate and adaptive immune responses, and immune-evasion mechanisms. We evaluate current vaccination strategies, including modified-live, inactivated, intranasal, and gene-deleted marker vaccines, highlighting their capacity to reduce clinical disease and shedding alongside their limited ability to prevent infection, latency, or reactivation, with attention to cross-protection between BoAHV-1 and BoAHV-5 and regional differences in vaccine availability. Emerging platforms, including attenuated gene-deleted viruses and subunit, multi-epitope, DNA, and vectored vaccines, are assessed according to experimental evidence. Although several candidates improve humoral, cellular, or mucosal immunity, none has consistently achieved sterilizing immunity together with prevention of latency and transmission, reinforcing the need to integrate improved vaccination with DIVA-compatible surveillance, biosecurity, and long-term control strategies.