Molecular Immune Responses to Aerosol Challenge with Francisella tularensis in Mice Inoculated with Live Vaccine Candidates of Varying Efficacy

Francisella tularensis is a facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen and the etiological agent of tularemia. The subspecies F. tularensis tularensis is especially virulent for humans when inhaled and respiratory tularemia is associated with high mortality if not promptly treated. A live vaccine strain (LVS) derived from the less virulent holarctica subspecies confers incomplete protection against aerosol challenge with subsp. tularensis. Moreover, correlates of protection have not been established for LVS.