THE DIAGNOSIS OF ANTHRAX FROM PUTREFYING 

 ANIMAL TISSUES 1 



W. A. HAGAN 



Laboratory of Comparative Pathology and Bacteriology, New York State Veterinary 

 College, at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 



Received for publication December 30, 1919 



Of all infectious diseases of animals there is none easier to 

 diagnose bacteriologically, when the material is fresh, than 

 anthrax. In infected tissue, B. anthracis is always numerous 

 and present in practically pure culture. This fact, together 

 with the vigor of its growth on the simplest kinds of culture 

 media, make its detection very simple. When the suspected 

 material has undergone a certain amount of putrefaction, how- 

 ever, conditions are changed and difficulties arise. These diffi- 

 culties are due to two things, viz., first, to the multiplication 

 of a number of species of organisms which resemble the anthrax 

 organism so closely as to cause difficulty in their differentiation; 

 second, to the diminution in the numbers of the anthrax organ- 

 isms present, this diminution being carried on progressively, 

 as putrefaction proceeds, to the point of complete extinction. 



The first difficulty has been satisfactorily overcome but the 

 second cannot be, so long as putrescible tissues are shipped for 

 considerable distances before examination. In such tissues the 

 anthrax organism is usually prevented from sporulating because 

 of lack of sufficient oxygen. In this stage it is quite rapidly 

 destroyed by putrefaction, and, undoubtedly, in a considerable 

 number of positive cases, the evidence is destroyed before the 

 tissue is examined. Methods of sending material which would 

 provide favorable conditions for the anthrax organism to sporulate 

 as well as to reduce the moisture to a minimum, thus preventing 

 the growth of saprophytic organisms, are perfectly feasible and 



1 Presented before Society of American Bacteriologists, December 30, 1919. 



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THE JOUBNAL OF BACTERIOLOGY, VOL. V, NO. 4 



