FOURTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART X. 727 



and yards should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before the fowls 

 are returned to them, and should be kept very clean for some weeks 

 afterwards to guard against a recurrence of the disease. 



KOUP OR CONTAGIOUS CATARRH. 



The disease called "roiip" by poultrymen is a contagious catarrh, close- 

 ly resembling the more malignant forms of influenza in the larger ani- 

 mals and in man. It attacks principally the membranes lining the eye, 

 the sacs below the eye (infra-orbital sinuses), the nostrils, the larynx, 

 and the trachea. It is attended with high fever and is very contagious. 



Causation. — Roup appears to be a strictly contagious disease; that is, 

 one which arises only, so far as known, by contagion from other diseased 

 birds. The nature of the microbe which constitutes the virus is not 

 known. The contagion is generally brought into the poultry yard by 

 infected birds. Sometimes these are birds which are purchased from 

 other flocks in which the disease exists; sometimes they are birds of 

 the home flock which have been to exhibitions and there exposed to 

 sick fowls; and sometimes they are wild birds or pigeons which fly 

 from one poultry yard to another. 



The saliva and the discharge which escapes from the nostrils carry 

 the contagion, and soon contaminate the drinking water and feeding 

 troughs so that all the fowls are infected. Even the flocks in adjoin- 

 ing yards are infected by the particles of mucus projected into the air 

 when sneezing, or by the contagion carried on the feet of persons, 

 animals, or small birds that pass from one yard to another. 



Delicate birds are inclined to severe attacks and to recover slowly, 

 and often a chronic condition persists for a long time. Birds so affected 

 may carry and spread the contagion for a year or more and become the 

 cause of new outbreaks of the disease. 



Symptoms. — The symptoms flrst seen are very similar to those of an 

 ordinary cold, but there is more fever, dullness, and prostration. The 

 discharge from the nasal opening is at first thin and watery, but in two 

 or three days becomes thick and obstructs the breathing. The inflam- 

 mation, which begins in the nasal passages, soon extends to the eyes 

 and to the spaces which exist immediately below the eyeballs (infra- 

 orbital spaces). The eyelids are swollen, held closed much of the time, 

 and may be glued together by the accumulated secretion. The birds 

 sneeze and shake their heads in their efforts to free the air passages 

 from the thick mucus. The appetite is diminished and the birds sit 

 with their heads drawn in, wings drooping, and having a general ap- 

 pearance of depression and illness. 



When the inflammation reaches the spaces or sacs beneath the eyes, 

 this causes the formation of a secretion very similar to that of the nose, 

 and as this becomes thick it collects, distends the walls of these spaces, 

 and produces a warm and painful swelling, -which is seen just below 

 the eyes and may reach the size of a hickory nut. This swelling presses 

 with much force on the eyeball, which is displaced and more or less 

 deformed; and in extreme cases even the bones of the head may give 



