Editorial: Proinflammatory cytokines in pneumonic tularemia: toomuch too late?

Innate immunity is the first line of de-fense against a pathogen, responsiblefor detecting the presence of a foreign invader and then orchestrating a series of responses designed to limit pathogen repli-cation and minimize tissue damage. How-ever, some intracellular pathogens, such as Yersinia pestis and Francisella tularensis, repli-cate virtually unrestricted in their hosts, ap-parently unaffected by the immune system, quickly causing host death. Both of these organisms have been classified by the Cen-ters for Disease Control and Prevention as Category A biological agents. In the case of F. tularensis, as few as 10 virulent organisms, when acquired via the airborne route, can cause a debilitatin