Historical 
'I'he disease 
in Brazil 
Spik()Cii,4:tosis op Sudanpsh Fowls 
By TiiK Dikectok 
It will be convenient in the first instance briefly to review the work accomplished on what 
was originally termed Fowl Septicaemia or Brazilian Septicaemia of Fowls, an illness due to 
the presence of Spirillum or Spirocliata gallinarum * in the blood of these birds. 
1. Marohoux and Salimbeni,- working in Brazil, were the first to descrilie the condition. 
They noted that special varieties of fowls were more apt to be attacked, and were more severely 
attacked than the common species. They distinguished an acute and chronic form of the 
disease, the former characterised by wasting, somnolence, diarrhoea rutiled feathers, anaemia, 
as evidenced by pallor of the comb, weakness, so that infected birds cannot perch, and towards 
the end are found lying helpless with their heads on the ground. Death occurs accompanied 
by spasm. Tbe chronic form follows the acute. There is an appearance of return to health, 
then a relapse, paralysis of the feet and of the wings, progressive emaciation, and death in 
eight to fifteen days. Eecovery may occur, but sometimes paralysis remains as a sequel to 
the illness. 
In the acute form there is fever, the temperature ranging from 108° F. to 109° F. for four 
or live days. It then falls to about 107° F., i.e. slightly subnormal, returning to normal if 
recovery takes place. It remains low if there be combined cachexia. 
They showed that the disease was associated with the presence of a spirillum in the blood, 
the morphology of which they did not describe, but -which Laveran named Sp. gallinarum,^ 
and that this organism was conveyed from sick to healthy birds by the bites of Argas ticks. 
They proved that in tick-bite infection the incubation period was four to nine days, and ticks 
were stated to be a sure and certain means of inoculation, and to transmit a severe form of 
the disease. Ticks were found to he capable of producing infection live months after their last 
feed on an infected bird. When a healthy fowl was inoculated subcutaneously with a few 
drops of infected blood from a sick bird, infection was found to occur, the incubation period 
being short, a rise of temperature being apparent after twenty-four hours, and spirilla'* being 
present in the blood. There was no reaction at the point of inoculation. In the acute disease 
the spirilla were found to multiply in the blood until the infection reached a maximum. At 
this time the temperature was found to fall, and the spirilla, which were at first separate, to 
accumulate in masses. Small masses were noted to unite and form large groups, chiefly found 
at the extremity of a blood film. The so-called crisis, really a short lysis, was stated to take 
place a short time after the formation of the large clumps which, in acute and fatal forms, very 
slightly preceded death. If recovery ensued, it took twelve or fifteen days for the fowl to regain 
its former weight. The French observers stated that after the crisis the spirilla vanish from 
the circulation and do not again appear in it— not even in those cases which prove fatal. 
They further noted that a chronic disease associated with atrophy of the internal organs (liver 
and spleen) may follow experimental inoculation. 
They recorded the post mortem signs as great enlargement of the spleen, often to thrice 
its normal size, some enlargement of the liver associated with fatty degeneration, and areas of 
necrosis. The other organs are unaffected. 
They found that no young fowl was absolutely^ refractory to the disease; that geese were 
very susceptible, dying in five or six days ; that ducks and guinea fowls were also susceptible ; 
that turtle doves and sparrows take the disease and die; while in pigeons the illness is slight, 
' Recently re-named Sp. marchoiuH by Nuttall. 
- Marchoux, K., and Salimbeni, .\. fSepteinber 2.5th, 190S), “ La Spirillose des Ponies.” Ann. dc 
VInalitut Paxfcur, pp. 509—580, Vol. XVIII. 
■ Now termed Spirochivtes, their protozoal nature being generally admitted.— (.\.B. 
