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A live attenuated Yersinia pestis vaccine designated EV76-51f, which had previously been shown to be pathogenic in vervet monkeys but not in guinea pigs, was tested in the multimammate mouse Praomys (Mastomys) natalensis. Doses of 10(6) viable organisms inoculated subcutaneously as either a lyophilized suspension or an agar-grown culture resulted in vaccination fatalities in Praomys but not in white mice. Hemagglutinating antibodies to the fraction 1 antigen were not stimulated by doses lower than 10(4) viable organisms. Agar-grown cultures of the vaccine gave better protection against a virulent Y. pestis challenge than did a lyophilized suspension. All Praomys vaccinated with a dose of 10(6) agar-grown EV76-51f protected against a virulent challenge, whereas even doses up to 10(8) lyophilized bacilli failed to give complete protection. The pathogenicity of a live attenuated plague vaccine derived from the Y. pestis EV76 vaccine strain can be detected in Praomys (Mastomys) natalensis, a rodent species highly susceptible to plague. This animal species may therefore be valuable for the testing of live attenuated plague vaccines before they are tested in costly nonhuman primates.

A live attenuated Yersinia pestis (Pasteurella pestis) vaccine strain designated EV51f, which had been passaged through guinea pigs previously treated with ferrous sulfate, was shown to be pathogenic for African green vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethips pygerythrus), but not for guinea pigs. The bacilli multiplied in the monkeys, as shown by positive blood cultures, caused an elevation of white cell counts and rectal temperatures, and resulted in death of 26% (13/50) of animals. Postmortem findings of these animals were typical of bubonic-septicemic plague. This vaccine did not cause deaths in 50 guinea pigs even in doses up to 100 million viable bacilli inoculated subcutaneously. It is suggested that the virulence of an attenuated Y. pestis strain which does not produce pigment on a defined medium containing hemin, but possesses all other known virulence determinants, is dependent on the availability of iron in vivo. The serological response of the monkeys as determined by the hemagglutinating and mouse protective antibodies was high one month after vaccination and also in guinea pigs, as shown by virulent challenge. This antibody level declined in monkeys over a period of nearly 6 months, and a decline in immunity was confirmed by virulent challenge which resulted in the death of 30% of vaccinated monkeys. The level of immunity in monkeys did not appear to be related to the dose of vaccine.