Outbred SW mice exhibit superior protection against pulmonary tularemia induced mortality versus inbred C57BL/6 mice.

SW and C57BL/6 male and female mice were primed and boosted i.n. on days 0 and 21 with 1500 ng of iFt-sodB or PBS prior to challenge i.n. on day 35 with 5 x LD50 of Ft LVS. Mice were monitored for survival (A) and weight-loss (B) for 30 d. For panels C-F, SW and C57BL/6male and female mice were vaccinated once i.n. with 1x103 CFU of attenuated Ft LVS sodB mutant (closed symbols) or PBS (open symbols). Mice were challenged i.n. with Ft SchuS4 on day 21(C, D, and E) or day 90 (F). Panels A, B, D and F represent one experiment containing 8 mice/group, while panels C & E are combined results from two independent experiments with a total of 16 mice/group. Actual challenge doses (CFU) are indicated for each experiment. **p p < 0.001.