Immunogenicity of plague vaccines in mice and guinea pigs.

The median effective doses (ED(50)) of 28 lots of killed Pasteurella pestis strain 195/P vaccine were determined in mice and guinea pigs. Mice were injected with vaccine alone, whereas guinea pigs received vaccine suspended in incomplete Freund's adjuvant. Potency ratios of vaccines were obtained by comparing the ED(50) of the test with that of a reference vaccine. Mean potency ratios of 1.82 +/- 0.50 in mice and 3.22 +/- 0.56 in guinea pigs were obtained, and the difference between these means was significant, P = <0.01. The number of organisms in the challenge dose did not significantly affect the ED(50) of a vaccine in guinea pigs. However, irrespective of vaccinating route, nearly 1,000 times as much vaccine was required in the absence of adjuvant as in its presence to produce comparable protective indexes in the guinea pig. The response of guinea pigs did not offer any improvement over mice in evaluating the efficacy of plague vaccines.