PROPHYLACTIC MEASURES 453 



meat-poisoning bacilli described belongs to the group of paratyphoid 

 bacilli. These are several varieties of bacilli which closely resemble 

 the Bacillus typhosus. 



Agglutination. It has been shown that the blood serum of patients 

 suffering from meat poisoning has a comparatively high agglutinating 

 power of 1 to 75-400 toward the Bacillus enteritidis, isolated from the 

 meat which had caused the sickness, while the serum from healthy 

 persons agglutinates in a proportion of 1 to 25 only. It has, on the 

 other hand, also been demonstrated that the serum from typhoid 

 hyperimmunized animals also agglutinated the Bacillus enteritidis in 

 very high dilutions, but it is never agglutinated in as high dilutions as 

 the typhoid bacillus itself. De Noble observed that a typhoid immune 

 serum which agglutinated the typhoid bacillus in 1 to 30,000 would 

 agglutinate the Bacillus enteritidis in 1 to 2000. Fischer showed 

 that an immune serum of the Bacillus enteritidis which would agglu- 

 tinate it in 1 to 40,000 would agglutinate the Bacillus coli only in 

 1 to 10. This shows that the Bacillus enteritidis is certainly not a 

 variety of the colon bacillus. Various stems of hog-cholera bacilli 

 behave toward such an immune serum like very distinct varieties and 

 not like one identical species. 



Infection. Infection with the Bacillus enteritidis may occur 

 through other sources than meat from sick animals containing this 

 organism. Probably it may also be conveyed by milk and by contact 

 between sick and healthy persons. It appears also that an organism 

 described by Petruschky under the name of Bacillus fecalis alkaligenes 

 obtained from the feces of a patient sick with a typhoid-like disease 

 is identical with the Bacillus enteritidis. 



Prophylactic Measures. To protect the public against the use of 

 meat which might cause infection with the Bacillus enteritidis the 

 following measures are recommended: Small pieces of meat are 

 removed with sterile instruments 2 or 3 cm. below the external surface. 

 With these pieces agar tubes are inoculated. They should remain 

 sterile, since the interior of meat from healthy animals does not contain 

 any bacteria. Another method was proposed by De Noble. A piece 

 of meat is obtained from the interior and its juice is expressed and 

 diluted to the proportion of 1 to 10 to 20 with physiologic salt solution. 

 With this fluid agglutination tests are made with emulsions of cultures 

 of the Bacillus enteritidis. If the juice agglutinates in a dilution of 

 1 to 10 to 20 it shows enteritidis infection of the meat, because the 

 juice from healthy meat does not agglutinate in a proportion of 1 to 1. 

 If cultures are to be obtained from infected meat it is well to keep it 

 for twenty-four hours at 18 to 20 C. Under these conditions the 

 enteritidis bacillus multiplies rapidly in the interior of the infected 

 meat. 



Meat poisoning has also been observed from the use of meat already 

 somewhat putrid and containing large numbers of colon or proteus 

 bacilli. 



