Bacterial and Fungal Diseases

This chapter studies the bacterial diseases in hamsters such as proliferative ileitis, which is a serious infectious disease of hamsters and it results in high morbidity and mortality. The incidence of bacterial diseases in laboratory hamsters has declined and this decrease is primarily due to improved husbandry activities including more frequent and effective sanitation practices, and the use of microisolation and barrier technologies. A reduction in occurrences of bacterial diseases is also associated with the reduced use of hamsters as a laboratory animal species. However, bacterial diseases of hamsters remain significant because many of these diseases have the potential for high morbidity, high mortality, zoonosis, and economic loss. Conversely, mycotic infections are extremely rare and are poorly documented in the scientific literature. The chapter studies Tyzzer's disease, antibiotic and nonantibiotic-associated clostridial enteropathy, and the fungal diseases. Hamsters are used as an animal model for fungal infections; spontaneously occurring fungal diseases are extremely rare.