The rabbit model of tuberculosis has been used historically to differentiate between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis based on their relative virulence in this animal host. M. tuberculosis infection in market rabbits is cleared over time, whereas infection with M. bovis results in chronic, progressive, cavitary disease leading to death. Because of the innate resistance of commercial rabbits to M. tuberculosis, 320 to 1,890 log-phase, actively growing inhaled bacilli were required to form one grossly visible pulmonary tubercle at 5 weeks. The range of inhaled doses required to make one tubercle allows us to determine the relative pathogenicities of different strains. Fewer inhaled organisms of the M. tuberculosis Erdman strain were required than of M. tuberculosis H37Rv to produce a visible lesion at 5 weeks. Furthermore, with the Erdman strain, only 7 of 15 rabbits had healed lesions at 16 to 18 weeks; among the other animals, two had chronic, progressive cavitary disease, a phenotype usually seen only with M. bovis infection. Genotypic investigation of the Erdman strain with an H37Rv-based microarray identified gene differences in the RD6 region. Southern blot and PCR structural genetic analysis showed significant differences between M. tuberculosis strains in this region. Correlation of the relative pathogenicity, including disease severity, in the rabbit model with the strain genotype may help identify stage-specific M. tuberculosis genes important in human disease.Tuberculosis continues to be a leading cause of infectious disease mortality. Because of the complex pathogenesis of the disease, the development of animal models for specific stages of disease such as latency and cavitation remains a priority. The murine model is the most widely used animal model because of its economy, the extensive characterization of inbred strains, and the commercial availability of immunologic reagents (31). The guinea pig is another well-researched model of tuberculosis and has the advantages of remarkable susceptibility to low doses of aerosolized Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the development of a strong delayed-type hypersensitivity response (11,36,37,40).The rabbit model offers certain advantages over both the murine and guinea pig models. First, when infected with M. tuberculosis or Mycobacterium bovis, rabbits have a spectrum of disease that represents many of the specific stages of human disease. In general, rabbits are able to contain disease caused by virulent M. tuberculosis. Over time, the number of pulmonary bacilli decline and the lesions regress (22). With M. bovis infection, rabbits form chronic fibrosing pulmonary cavities (8). Both of these are prominent features in human disease. Finally, rabbit lung granulomas, with their caseous centers, closely resemble the human granuloma. Lurie and colleagues have found a remarkable similarity between the spectrum of rabbit tuberculosis and that found in humans (23).In the era before genomics and before the biochemical property differences were elucid...
