Fig. 4.

Induction of WD-MCF in rabbits. (A) Cumulative incidence of survival of three groups of three rabbits challenged intravenously with mock-infected BT cells or BT cells infected with the WT or 247Nluc⁺-excised strain. (B) Body temperature was recorded daily following infection. Rabbits were identified according to the day of euthanasia postinfection (see numbers). (C) Monitoring by flow cytometry of cell subpopulations in PBMC at regular intervals postinoculation of rabbits with mock-infected BT cells (left column) or BT cells infected with the WT strain (middle column) or with the 247Nluc⁺-excised strain (right column). Cells were labeled for detection of CD8⁺, CD4⁺, and B cells and monocyte/macrophages, as described in Materials and Methods. (D) Ratio of CD8⁺/CD4⁺ cells from PBMC or pLN at time of euthanasia. Data show results from one out of two independent experiments with similar results. Error bars show means ± standard errors of the means (SEM) (n = 3 animals). Statistical analyses by two-tailed unpaired t test: **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001, mock versus infected; #, P < 0.05, WT versus 247Nluc⁺; n.s., nonsignificant.