Experimental pathogenicity and mortality in ligated ileal loop studies of the newly reported halophilic lactose-positive Vibrio sp.

Laboratory animals were challenged subcutaneously, intraperitoneally, and intravenously with the halophilic lactose-positive Vibrio. Intraperitoneal inocula of 10(8) organisms proved to be rapidly lethal in mice, rats, and hamsters. The 50% lethal doese in ICR strain mice was estimatd to be 8 X 10(5) live cells, injected intraperitoneally or subcutaneously. Subtaneous inocula in mice resulted in severe local infections, characterized by gross edema, and for those animals surviving longer than 48 h, tissue necrosis. Intravenous, intraperitoneal, and subcutaneous injections of 10(8) cells in mice resulted in death within 3 to 6 h. These animals rapidly developed Vibrio bacteremia after injections. V. parahaemolyticus, studied for comparative purposes, produced no morbidity or mortality when injected subcutaneously. Injections of live lactose-positive Vibrio into ligated ileal loops in rats and rabbits consistently proved to be lethal with a high-density bacteremia resulting.