Inoculation and bacterial analyses of fractions obtained from the reference inoculum TEC4 which experimentally reproduces epizootic rabbit enteropathy

Abstract

The aetiology of epizootic rabbit enteropathy (ERE) is still unknown despite ten years of continuous research. A putative bacterial aetiology is the basis of current research. The fractionation of the reference inoculum (TEC4) is a major step towards finding the potential bacterial agent(s). In this study, TEC4 was fractionated by different techniques: centrifugation on discontinuous sucrose gradient, cell adherence and chloroform/ethanol treatment. The different fractions were inoculated into SPF rabbits and analyzed with classical bacteriological techniques. ERE was reproduced with two of the six fractions obtained. Four species never previously cultured from TEC were identified in the process but, to date, none of them seems to be the aetiology of ERE.