FIG 3.

NTHI colonized the nasopharynges of chinchillas. Two days after intranasal inoculation, nasopharyngeal lavages were performed, and fluids were serially diluted and plated to quantitate the relative bacterial load within the nasopharynges of all animals. The relative bacterial loads of NTHI were comparable among the cohorts and thereby indicated an equivalent opportunity to develop ascending OM in adenovirus-compromised chinchillas. Symbols indicate the values for individual animals, and the filled bars indicate the values for each cohort ± SEM. The dotted line represents the limit of detection.