Terminal changes in mice experimentally infected with Borrelia duttoni.

The terminal changes following Borrelia duttoni infection in mice consisted of disseminated intravascular coagulation with associated depression in temperature, and in white cell and platelet counts with the development of a positive limulus lysate test. Apart from thrombosis and haemorrhage, similar changes were found in mice given cyclophosphamide prior to infection. The results suggest that neither intravascular coagulation nor immune complex formation are major factors in causing death in borreliosis.