Natural Infection of Germfree Rats with Mycoplasma pulmonis

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Abstract
Infection due to Mycoplasma pulmonis alone was found in 27 of 311 (9%) germfree rats examined. Clinical signs were limited to dyspnea in a single rat and sudden death in another. A technique for culture of oropharyngeal swabs was found to be a reliable and sensitive method for detection of the infection in the live rat. The isolations of M. pulmonis were correlated with typical lesions in the respiratory tract and middle ears. Uterine infection was found in 27% of the infected, germfree female rats. M. pulmonis was also cultured from each of 39 conventionally raised rats but from none of 47 cesarean-derived, barrier-maintained rats, all of the same stock as the germfree rats. The data suggest that the infection was introduced into the germfree isolators via the infected uterus and that neither vertical nor horizontal transmission, in the absence of other microorganisms, is a likely event.

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