Experimental colibacillosis in gnotobiotic baby pigs. I. Microbiological and clinical aspects.

Sixty-two gnotobiotic pigs were used in three experiments to determine the means whereby two related strains of Escherichia coli colonized the intestinal tract. Pigs were exposed by a method simulating neonatal contamination of the umbilical stump. Bacteremia was produced within one and one half hours, and by 24 hours the infection was generally well established in the gastrointestinal tract. By 48 hours after exposure, the bacteremia had subsided so that only an occasional isolation from organs other than the gastrointestinal tract was made. Oral exposure of one litter of germfree pigs produced heavy colonization of the entire gastrointestinal tract within four hours. Evidence of intermittent bacteremia was present in pigs of this litter. Diarrhea appeared earlier when pigs were exposed orally than when they were exposed by way of the umbilical stump.