Experimental study of the effects on rabbits of strains of Staphylococcus aureus which are resistant to mercuric chloride

3 mercuric chloride resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus of human, canine and bovine origin were inoculated into rabbits which were then caged with clinically healthy rabbits. All rabbits were observed twice daily for evidence of infection. The human strain of S. aureus produced the severest lesion and the bovine strain the least severe lesion. Only 1 of 16 healthy rabbits developed a lesion similar to those of the infected rabbits in its group and from which identical S. aureus was isolated. It was concluded that the human biotype was more virulent in rabbits than the canine and bovine biotypes, and that infection in a rabbit colony by mercuric chloride resistant members of the 3 biotypes may not cause epidemic staphylococcosis.