Abstract
This review is an update on some of the remarkable advances that have led to greater understanding of Pneumocystis, an important group of rodent pathogens. The author outlines the life cycle of these pulmonic fungi, their taxonomic position, and their nomenclature. He discusses how infections begin and spread in laboratory rodent colonies, and how those infections are inadvertently maintained in barriered breeding colonies. He also addresses the diagnosis of Pneumocystis infection and provides suggestions for the establishment of Pneumocystis-free animal colonies.
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Acknowledgements
This review was adapted, in part, from the transcript of an oral presentation given at the Upstate New York Southern Ontario Laboratory Veterinarians (UNYSOLV) meeting at Taconic Inc., Germantown, NY, in June 2006 and from a chapter in a text97 cowritten and edited by the author.
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Weisbroth, S. Pneumocystis: newer knowledge about the biology of this group of organisms in laboratory rats and mice. Lab Anim 35, 55–61 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban1006-55
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/laban1006-55