Persistent Infectious Hyperkeratotic Dermatitis in Immunocompetent Epidermal-Mutant Mice.

During a previously reported program-wide outbreak, both immunocompetent depilated () mutant mice and transgenic mice that express the papillomavirus E6 oncoprotein became persistently infected with . An orthokeratotic, hyperkeratotic, acanthotic dermatitis developed in the -infected mice, which remained PCR-positive for >45 days prior to euthanasia as part of the program-wide eradication effort. Since both affected strains of mice have altered skin homeostasis, immune status or the presence of hair may not alone be sufficient to explain strain susceptibility to -related cutaneous disease. In order to avoid invalidation of preclinical studies due to infection, it may be necessary to isolate immunodeficient mouse strains, implement facililty-wide surveillance for , and sterilize equipment with vaporized hydrogen peroxide.