PATHOGENESIS OF ACUTE TULAREMIA IN THE RABBIT
Abstract
Signs, bacterial multiplication and dissemination, and pathologic changes were correlated following intracutaneous inoculation of rabbits with 1, 000 cells of Pasteurella tularensis SCHU S4. The infectious process could be divided into four phases: (i) adaptation, (ii) regional infection, (iii) hematogenic dissemination and focal spread, and *iv) septicemia. The organisms became established at the inoculation site during the first 8 hours; they spread to regional lymph nodes and multiplied rapidly during the 8th to 30th hours. Clinical disease coincided with generalization of the process and early pathologic changes. Septicemia was marked by impairment of organ functions, rapid bacterial proliferation and metastasis, progressive anatomic pathologic changes, and terminated in death 103 to 145 hours after inoculation. Bacterial populations per organ in regional lymph nodes, liver, spleen, and lungs were between 10 to the 7th power and 10 to the 9th power at time of death and did not differ appreciably among animals dying as early as 103 or as late as 145 hours after inoculation. Icterus that developed during the septicemic period resulted primarily from hepatocellular damage.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1964
- Accession Number
- AD0455884
Entities
People
- Robert L. Schricker
Organizations
- United States Army Biological Warfare Laboratories