Hemograms of gnotobiotic and conventional infant baboons (Papio cynocephalus).

Five baboons delivered by cesarean section were placed in sterile isolation and maintained in this environment for varying periods of time. Four of these neonates were inoculated at birth with viral material and used in special studies. The fifth animal was not inoculated and remained germfree for 11 1/2 mo. Hematologic observations were made on all these subjects. The animals reared in sterile isolators had stable erythrocyte values as compared with those of their conventional counterpart. Conventionally-reared baboons had higher leukocyte counts than the infants in a sterile environment, and the lymphocyte numbers of isolator-reared infants increased at a slower rate than the conventional infants.