Experimental infection of man with rabbit-virulent Treponema paraluis-cuniculi.

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Abstract
Virulent T. paraluis-cuniculi was inoculated intradermally into the arm of a human volunteer and into the shaved backs of 10 rabbits. An identical, but heat-killed, preparation was inoculated into the opposite arm of the volunteer as control. A superficial and transient infection developed in the volunteer, shown by a small zone of erythema that persisted for 24 days. The control preparation caused a smaller zone of erythema that disappeared after 5 days. A very poor immune response was detected by standard serological tests for syphilis. The inoculated rabbits developed lesions about 6 days after infection and seroconverted by 84 days. The poor antitreponemal antibody response to T. paraluis-cuniculi infection in the volunteer suggests that this naturally attenuated treponeme may not be suitable as vaccine against infection with T. pallidum in humans.