Will living in a germ-free environment aid in a puppy's survival?
Apparently it will. Fourteen months ago, Lady, a mixed breed canine, was born by a Caesarian section. Immediately she was placed in a germfree unit at the Louisiana State Uni-
yersity Medical school labora"-tory.
Two months ago Lady was one of a litter of four pups which had surgery to induce an intestinal strangulation obstruction. A spokesman for the medical school said the purpose of the surgery was to determine whether absence of bacteria in the pups' germ-free environment would aid survival.
It did. The medical school spokesman said Lady and her brothers and sisters would have died a day following the induced obstruction had they been raised as normal dogs. Approximately 100 hours after the surgery the germ-free dogs were still alive. They were reoperated upon, their condition corrected and all completely recovered.
A paper on the experiment won honorable mention in a national competition conducted by an organization dedicated to animal medical research. But Lady's days of being a guinea pig are over. She has been adpoted by Mrs. Ignace Granger, a public health nurse of Jeanerette. Mrs. Granger will continuue to report to the medical school on Lady's general health.
