A new experimental murine aspergillosis model to identify strains of Aspergillus fumigatus with reduced virulence.

Experimental animals are an obligate screen to investigate microorganism pathogenicity. Numerous animal models have been used to analyse the virulence of the opportunistic human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus but none of the experimental models used previously have been satisfactory. This report discuss these models and presents a murine model of pulmonary aspergillosis that is very easy and the most adapted to compare the pathogenicity of A. fumigatus strains. Strains to be tested are inoculated intranasally and synchronously to mice and strains isolated from the lung of mice killed by the infection are typed. The number of colonies recovered is directly correlated to the virulence of the strain.