INFECTIOUS ASTHENIA .OF BIRDS 191 



Treatment. Treatment of croupous enteritis is as a rule 

 unsatisfactory. Little can be done except the administration 

 of general stimulants and bowel disinfectants. As prophy- 

 lactic measures, all feeding pans should be thoroughly cleaned 

 and sterilized, and the discharges of the bowels carefully 

 taken care of to prevent further contamination of the food. 



INFECTIOUS ASTHENIA OF BIRDS. 



Definition. This is a chronic disease found in birds, which 

 affects primarily the duodenum in the form of a chronic 

 catarrhal inflammation. 



Etiology. The cause is a microorganism known as the 

 Bacterium asthenia?. It develops principally in the duo- 

 denum, producing an irritation to the mucous membrane, 

 which gradually leads to chronic inflammation. 



Pathology. The characteristic lesions are: Extreme ema- 

 ciation of the muscular system with an almost complete 

 absence of fat. The bowels are empty, containing only a 

 small quantity of slimy mucus. The walls of the duodenum 

 are reddened, thickened, and show all the evidences of a 

 catarrhal inflammation of the mucous membrane. The 

 duodenal feces will contain large numbers of the Bacterium 

 asthenia 1 . 



Symptoms. Infectious asthenia is observed most com- 

 monly in young birds one to six months old. It is charac- 

 terized by extreme emaciation, variable appetite, paleness of 

 the comb, wattles and membranes. The course is chronic 

 and the termination usually fatal in about three months. 

 The extreme emaciation which comes on gradually has led 

 to the term "going light" being given it. During the 

 course of the disease the birds become weak, anemic, the 

 plumage rough; there is general depression which causes 

 them to sit in one position for a long time. Death occurs 

 from cachexia. 



Diagnosis. The large number of birds affected, the age of 

 the birds, the long chronic course, and the characteristic 

 lesions found on postmortem are usually sufficient to estab- 



