Animal models for meningococcal disease.

There are many in vitro systems for the study of meningococcal pathogenesis, but it is only in animal models of infection that the interactions of the bacteria with whole tissues and the humoral and cellular immune systems can be assessed. Animal-infection models are also of great importance for the assessment of the protective efficacy of existing and candidate vaccines. However, the relevance of these animal models to human disease and how well protection assessed in them corresponds to protection against human disease, must always be considered. Animal models for pathogenic Neisseria have been previously reviewed (1).