Suppression and recovery of erythropoiesis in B abortus–treated mice. (A) Serum erythropoietin concentrations in B abortus–treated mice increase to a peak by 7 days, with a decline approaching normal values by 28 days. (B) After the initial release of reticulocytes at 3 hours, reticulocytes decrease significantly below those of saline-treated mice from 12 hours to 7 days, followed by reticulocytosis on days 14 to 28. (C) Consistent with decreased reticulocytes in B abortus–treated mice, the red cell distribution width is suppressed at 12 hours to 3 days but increases by 14 days. Means ± SD are shown. *P < .05 and **P < .001 by Student t test or Mann-Whitney U test.