§113.209. Rabies Vaccine, Killed Virus.

Each lot of Master Seed Virus propagated in tissue or cells of avian origin shall also be tested for extraneous pathogens by procedures prescribed in § 113.37.

Each lot of Master Seed Virus propagated in primary cell cultures of mouse or hamster origin or brain tissues of mouse origin shall be tested for lymphocytic choriomeningitis (LCM) virus by the procedure prescribed in § 113.42. If LCM virus is detected, the Master Seed Virus is unsatisfactory.

The preinactivation virus titer must be established as soon as possible after harvest by at least five separate virus titrations. A mean relative potency value of the vaccine to be used in the host animal potency test must be established by at least five replicate potency tests conducted in accordance with the standard NIH test for potency in chapter 37 of “Laboratory Techniques in Rabies,” Fourth Edition (1996), edited by F.X. Meslin, M.M. Kaplan, and H. Koprowski, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland (ISBN 92 4 154479 1). The provisions of chapter 37 of “Laboratory Techniques in Rabies,” Fourth Edition (1996), are the minimum standards for achieving compliance with this section and are incorporated by reference. These provisions state that the challenge virus standard to be used as the challenge in the NIH test and the reference vaccine for the test are available from the national control authority. In the United States, that authority is the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service's Center for Veterinary Biologics Laboratory, located at 1920 Dayton Avenue, P.O. Box 844, Ames, IA 50010; phone (515) 337-6100; fax (515) 337-6120. This incorporation by reference was approved by the Director of the Federal Register in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR part 51. Copies may be obtained from the World Health Organization Publications Center USA, 49 Sheridan Avenue, Albany, NY 12210. Copies may be inspected at the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Center for Veterinary Biologics, Policy, Evaluation, and Licensing, 1920 Dayton Avenue, P.O. Box 844, Ames, IA 50010, or at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information on the availability of this material at NARA, call 202-741-6030, or go to: http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/code_of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html.

The dose of vaccine to be used in the immunogenicity test shall be no more than the amount which, on the basis of The NIH Test For Potency, has been diluted to the proposed minimum acceptable potency value. 1

Test animals shall be uniform and have no neutralizing antibodies to rabies as determined by serum-neutralization (SN) tests.

An alternative to challenging all surviving test animals in accordance with paragraph (b)(3)(iv) of this section may be used when the test animals are of species other than carnivores. Vaccinates shall be challenged at 1 year postvaccination. These shall include five vaccinates with the lowest SN titers at the 270th-day bleeding, five vaccinates with the lowest SN titers at the 365th-day bleeding, and all vaccinates with SN titers below 1:10 by the mouse SN test or below 1:16 by the rapid-fluorescent-focus-inhibition test at any bleeding. At least five SN-negative controls of each species shall be challenged at the same time as the vaccinates. All SN titers shall be titrated to an endpoint. All of the challenged vaccinates must remain well for a period of 90 days, and at least 80 percent of the controls must die of rabies for a satisfactory test without further challenge. If one or more of the vaccinates die from rabies, all the remaining vaccines, regardless of titer, along with the five controls shall be challenged. The cumulative results from the two challenges shall be evaluated for acceptance as specified in paragraph (b)(3)(v) of this section.

An Outline of Production change shall be made before authority for use a new lot of Master Seed Virus shall be granted by Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Purity test. Primary cell cultures of hamster origin or brain tissues of mouse origin used in vaccine production shall be tested for LCM virus as prescribed in § 113.42. Hamster origin cells shall be disrupted and undiluted cell fluids from each lot shall be tested. Where mouse brains are used in production, at least five mice which have not been injected with rabies virus shall be sacrificed and a 10 percent suspension of brain material shall be prepared and tested.

Safety tests. Bulk samples from each serial shall be tested for virus inactivation and safety as follows:

Potency test. Bulk or final container samples of completed product from each serial must be tested for potency by tests conducted in accordance with the standard NIH test for potency in Chapter 37 of “Laboratory Techniques in Rabies,” Fourth Edition (1996), which is incorporated by reference at paragraph (b)(1) of this section. The relative potency of each serial must be at least equal to that used in an approved host animal immunogenicity test.