Use of white rats for the measurement of immunogenic potency of inactived poliomyelitis vaccine

There are many advantages in the use of small laboratory animals rather than primates for tests to determine the immunogenic potency of inactivated poliomyelitis vaccine. The white rat, in particular, is cheap, easy to keep and use in sufficiently large numbers to ensure the statistical validity of results, and highly resistant to intercurrent diseases. The experiments reported show that this animal can be successfully used for evaluating immunogenic potency when a single intraperitoneal inoculation of inactivated poliomyelitis vaccine is administered, with results as accurate as those obtained with the more expensive guinea-pig.