Both Il6 and hepcidin expression increased transiently and correlated with the transient anaemia observed in A/J and BALB/c mice, however by day 17 post infection hepcidin expression had declined to below pre-infection levels in all strains, indicating that hepcidin was unlikely to be responsible for the persistent anaemia in C57BL/6. Here, HAMP is linked to anemia (phenotype).