TGFB1 and infection: Despite rapid replication of bacteria and rupture of host macrophages, F. tularensis does not elicit the typical pro-inflammatory responses associated with acute pulmonary bacterial infections within the first 48 h of infection, consistent with the hypothesis that F. tularensis induces local and systemic production of the transforming growth factor TGF-β (Bosio et al., 2007; Hall et al., 2008).