Mouse progyria? or contagion?

Not too long ago, I bought some mice at a petstore to supplement my breeders. Not too long after that, maybe a week, one of the males I bought started to look like he was very old. His coat became oily, he hobbled around, eyes squinty, much like a male that was almost a year old at the same time. Maybe the mouse in question was old, you say? In fact, he had just reached sexual maturity not long before. Before he died, he did manage to sire a litter. About half of the offspring showed the same symptoms within a few weeks and died. The next male in that same tank died for no apparent reason, and none of the females in that tank have bared litters for me since. Thing is, now a mouse in another tank is showing signs. It could be genetic, as all the mice came from the same petstore, who only uses one breeder, or it could be contagious, having passed from one tank to another.

So what do you think? Gentic or contagious? Should I scrap the lot of them and start over with mice from several different sources? Any input is appreciated.

New rodent stock needs to be quarantined just like anything else.

Seems to me I heard that not too long ago that a major mouse breeder was basically wiped out by something that went through his stock.

If I were in your shoes, I would destroy all of the mice and either heavily disinfect the caging or destroy it as well. Depends on how much you have invested in the cages, and your particular circumstances. It would probably cost me less to burn my rodent building to the ground and start all over again than it would to have to buy all my mice for an entire year.