Adult mice as a model for early onset group B streptococcal disease.

The intravenous inoculation of adult mice with virulent group B streptococci serotype Ia resulted in fulminating sepsis with extensive colonization of the lungs and kidneys. The time course of the infection lasting 24 to 40 h, extensive pulmonary colonization, and resistance of the type Ia organism to phagocytosis in the absence of specific antibody suggest that mice are an appropriate model for the study of early onset streptococcal infection of human neonates.