Inactivation of infectious pancreatic necrosis virus for vaccine use

Abstract. Formalin and β-propiolactone (BPL) were compared for efficacy in inactivating infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) for vaccine use. Incubation with a 1:200 dilution of formalin at 20°C for four days or longer, or a 1:200 dilution of BPL at 4°C for six days or longer, completely inactivated the virus infectivity. However, whereas treatment with formalin caused only a slight reduction in anti-genicity as titrated by in vitro tests, treatment with BPL destroyed over 50% of the antigenicity of the virus. Virus inactivated with formalin also proved highly effective at inducing high titres of neutralizing antibody in trout.