A novel experimental model for the study and evaluation of experimental vaccines to Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

A novel experimental model to study immune protection to Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae in the rat is described. One-week-old rats born from immunized mothers were challenged intraperitoneally with a suspension of A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 1 and mortality recorded up to 48 h postinfection. Immunization with inactivated whole cells (IWC) or a whole cell extract (WCE) from A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 1 resulted in protection against an homologous challenge, particularly in the case of WCE where protection was observed at the highest challenge dose of approximately 1000 50% lethal doses.