Sano R, Yamamoto S, Kamimura H, Kimura M, Ueda K, Shimizu A, Kawano J, Kimura S
Department of Veterinary Public Health, Institute of Public Health, Tokyo, Japan.
Jikken Dobutsu. 1988 Jan;37(1):31-8. doi: 10.1538/expanim1978.37.1_31.
An epizootic of Staphylococcus infection causing abscesses was encountered in a small-scale breeding colony of nude mice of BALB/c background. The incidence of abscess was sporadic and mostly nude (nu/nu) mice aged over 3 months were affected. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from the face, oral cavity, and feces of almost all nu/nu and heterozygous (nu/+) mice in the colony. After a prolonged time period, up to 10 to 14 months of age, almost all the S. aureus-carrying nu/nu mice produced abscesses and eventually died. Athymicity of the host seemed to be a prerequisite for the abscess formation since nu/+ mice were spared from the lesions. Also, transfer of immunocompetent spleen cells cured the abscesses of the affected nude mice.
