FIG. 1.

Survival and weight loss curves following pulmonary infection with F. tularensis LVS. Mice were inoculated via the intranasal route with 10⁴ CFU of the LVS strain, and survival and body weight were monitored over time. (A) All mice showed disease signs by day 3 or 4, and approximately 75% became moribund and died between days 5 and 8, while a small percentage (∼25%) overcame the illness and recovered. In this representative experiment, a total of 22 mice were included, 5 of which were survivors. (B) Moribund mice showed a body weight loss of approximately 25% (n = 12; filled circles) compared to uninfected controls (n = 4; open triangles). Survivors also lost body weight concurrently with the appearance of clinical signs but regained it upon recovery (n = 3; filled inverted triangles). Differences in body weight between moribund mice and survivors were statistically significant at day 8 postinfection (*, P < 0.05). The error bars represent standard deviations.