Tuberculosis 129 



Lowenstein ^ states that avian tuberculosis occurs more 

 frequently in man than is usually supposed and that it may 

 be due to eating eggs from tuberculosis hens. Artificially 

 infected eggs still contain living organisms after having been 

 soft boiled. 



In this connection it is of interest to mention a case of the 

 apparent transfer of fowl tuberculosis to man. In the 

 Medical Record (Vol. 31, 1887) there is recorded a case of 

 human tuberculosis in France which apparently came from 

 eating tuberculous fowls which "were cooked very little 

 before being eaten." The case occurred "in a little hamlet 

 of 10 cottages isolated in the midst of a large forest." No 

 other source of infection could be discovered. 



Treatment. — Fowl tuberculosis when it reaches the stage 

 at which it can be diagnosed cannot be cured under our pres- 

 ent knowledge. Treatment of individual cases should not be 

 attempted. Salmon ^ says : " When the disease is discovered 

 the effort should be to eradicate it at once by killing off the 

 whole flock and thoroughly disinfecting all the houses and runs. 



"As the great majority of the birds will probably be more 

 or less affected, the chances are that any which are saved will 

 have diseased livers and intestines, from which the bacilli 

 will escape and keep up the infection of the flock and the 

 runs. The danger of this is so great that no attempt should 

 be made to keep any of the fowls that have been exposed to 

 the contagion, no matter how valuable they may be. The 

 bodies of the birds which have died or are killed, as well as 

 all the accumulated manure, sweepings, and scrapings of the 

 poultry houses, should be completely destroyed by fire." 



1 Lowenstein, E., "Ueber das Vorkommen von Gefliigeltuber- 

 eulosis beim Menschen." Wiener Klin. Wochenschrift, Bd. 26, pp. 

 785-787, 1913. 



2 Salmon, D. E., "Important Poultry Diseases." U. S. Dept. of 

 Agr. Farmers' Bui. 530, 1913. 



