Spontaneous Respiratory Disease Associated with Cilia-Associated Respiratory (CAR) Bacillus in a Rat

Abstract

Spontaneous respiratory disease with wheezing was observed in a 3-month-old Wistar/Ms rat. The gross lesions were enlargement of the lungs with focal atelectasis and bronchiectasis. Histologically, there were tracheitis, bronchitis and bronchiolitis with peribronchial and peribronchiolar cuffs. Numerous argentaffine filamentous organisms, morphologically identified as CAR bacillus were demonstrated in the ciliary borders of epithelial cells in the affected respiratory tracts.