PREVENTIVE MEDICINE 319 



any rate some endeavour should be made in purchasing fresh stock 

 to ensure that they come from clean districts. 



Among housed rabbits and domestic birds cleanliness and atten- 

 tion to ordinary hygienic requirements, such as providing clean 

 water, food, and housing accommodation, will do much to lessen 

 the risk of the disease propagating. 



With regard to the fowl coccidium, it is stated that the parasite 

 is capable of retaining its vitality for 12 months and possibly longer 

 after being voided from the body. As it is practically impossible 

 to disinfect the poultry run, one might transfer the birds to fresh 

 ground, but this will only have the effect of spreading infection. 

 In any case, it is advisable to remove and burn, if possible, the top 

 3 inches of soil. It is best, therefore, to leave the birds where they 

 are and to kill any showing symptoms. Only newly hatched 

 chicks should be placed on clean ground, and all coops, roosts, &c., 

 should be disinfected or, better, burnt. It is said to be a good plan 

 to dip eggs into 90 per cent, alcohol before being set in order to 

 kill any coccidia adhering to the shell. Only healthy hens should 

 be used for setting. 



MALTA FEVER. 



Malta Fever (Mediterranean fever, Rock fever, Naples fever, 

 Levant fever) is a contagious disease common to practically all 

 domesticated animals and man and is due to the Micrococcus 

 melitensis, discovered by Bruce in 1887. The disease was first 

 described by Marston in 1859, who saw many cases in Malta. Since 

 1879 it has been recognised at nearly all points of the Mediterranean 

 littoral, in France, and in many other parts of the world. 



A Commission was appointed by the Government in 1904 to 

 investigate the disease, and the chief source of infection to man 

 was found to be goats' milk. 



Malta fever is chiefly seen in the goat, in which a frequent 

 symptom is abortion, but the disease is not infrequent in the sheep. 

 Zammit* in 1905 found 10 per cent, of the goats at Malta to be 

 excreting the organism with their milk, but serum tests showed as 

 many as 50 per cent, to be actually infected. The disease occurs 

 more rarely in horses, mules, large ruminants, dogs and cats. 

 Fowls show a marked susceptibility, but are only exceptionally 

 attacked in nature. Very many cases have been seen in man. The 

 age and breed of animals exerts no influence on infection. The 

 organism, which is most probably obligatory, is excreted from the 

 body, especially in the milk and urine, though in the case of the 

 * Hutyra and Marek, Special Path., Vol. I., p. 197. 



