A recombinant viral construct for expressing an exogenous polypeptide in a cell and uses thereof are provided. The recombinant viral constructs are derived from Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). The recombinant viral constructs encodes a fusion protein, which includes an exogenous (i.e., non-JEV) polypeptide and a JEV non-structural protein 1 (JEV NS1) or a segment thereof. Particularly, the exogenous polypeptide is inserted into the carboxyl-terminus of the JEV NS1, and the production of the recombinant fusion protein does not affect viral replication. Upon infection a cell with such recombinant viral constructs, JEV particles comprising limited multiplicative virions (LMV) may be produced. Each LMV comprises the as-described JEV replicon. The JEV particles are useful in eliciting an immune response to the exogenous polypeptide in a host and thereby confer the host with protective immunization against the exogenous polypeptide.
