Guinea pig protection test as indicator of potency of oil emulsion foot-and-mouth disease vaccines.

A vaccine potency test is described involving virus challenge to six groups of 10 guinea pigs at five weeks after vaccination. Sixteen oil emulsion foot-and-mouth disease vaccines were so tested and nine retested after storage at 4 degrees C for up to 28.3 months. The results were compared with those of the routinely used oil emulsion vaccine potency test (protection afforded to eight pigs challenged 21 days after vaccination). When guinea pig estimates of 3 log2 PD50 or more were obtained, then, with one exception, the batches protected all or almost all pigs from challenge, but when the guinea pig estimates were less than 1 log2 PD50, the vaccines failed to protect five out of eight pigs. The sensitivity and reproducibility of the guinea pig method, established by repeated tests on two vaccine batches, seemed acceptable. The results suggested that guinea pig estimates might provide a suitable substitute for pig challenge potency tests because they reflected the potency of the vaccines, were likely to involve smaller standard errors and caused less discomfort to animals.