Serological Response of Chickens, Rabbits and Guinea-pigs to Equine Influenza Vaccines

The HI antibody response of chickens, rabbits and guinea-pigs to 4 commercially available equine influenza vaccines was studied. The responses of chickens and guinea-pigs to the A equi 1 components of the aqueous, the aluminium hydroxide and the sodium alginate adjuvanted vaccines were very similar and comparatively greater than the rabbit response. Guinea-pigs responded less well than the other 2 species to the A equi 2 components of these 3 vaccines. The oil-emulsion vaccine elicited the greatest response in guinea-pigs and the poorest response in chickens. This variation in species response to the different vaccines precludes the recommendation of any one species for routine potency testing purposes and emphasises the need to correlate the response of laboratory animals with that of horses.