ILAR Journal Online, Volume 39(4) 1998: Opportunistic Infections in Laboratory Rats and Mice

Online Issues

<< All Back-issues

<< This Issue's Table of Contents

ILAR Journal V39(4) 1998
Opportunistic Infections in Laboratory Rats and Mice

Introduction
Margaret S. Landi and Ralph B. Dell

In September 1997, ILAR Council held a workshop to address the topic of "opportunistic infections in rodents." The 15 participants' names are listed below. On behalf of ILAR Council, we again thank all participants for their time and hard work, including the academic and commercial organizations that helped finance the workshop.

As you read through the articles in this issue, we believe you will realize that the topic of opportunistic organisms is difficult to address. One controversial point concerns which word best describes the organisms of interest--"opportunistic" or "adventitious." We refer readers to any medical dictionary for formal definitions of these terms, with the reminder that this issue of ILAR Journal is not a consensus document. Rather, it is a compilation of theme articles on the various topics regarding organisms (primarily microorganisms) in rats and mice that do not ordinarily cause disease in immunocompetent hosts. This lack of consensus is also true for the controversial term "specific pathogen free."

Some of the articles in this issue expound on topics directly related to opportunistic organisms, and others speculate on future directions. We do not envision that this issue of ILAR Journal will answer all questions on opportunistic organisms. Instead, we hope that for our readers, who include scientists, teachers, students, veterinarians, IACUC members, and administrators, the mixture of articles in this issue will help all in making informed decisions on the topic of opportunistic microorganisms in mice and rats.

Participants in the September 1997 Workshop on Opportunistic Infections in Rodents: