[Experimental tick-borne rickettsiosis in murine rodents]

The comparative study of the duration and level of rickettsiemia in wild rodents, natural carriers of rickettsiosis, after their experimental infection with Rickettsia sibirica has been carried out. All those species under study (common voles, meadow mice and great gerbils) have been found to be faintly susceptible to this infective agent. Large infective doses produce no visible signs of the disease in these animals, rickettsiemia for a short time and its level is not high. Great gerbils have been found to be most susceptible, and meadow mice least susceptible to R. sibirica. Different species also show differences in the immune transformation of the body.