94 AIDS TO BACTERIOLOGY 



case of the paratyphoid bacilli by a satisfactory agglutina- 

 tion with the patient's serum. 



Pathogen esis. Gartner's bacillus is the most frequent 

 cause of epidemics of meat poisoning. It has been dis- 

 covered in meat from pigs, cattle, horses, and fish. 

 In the only case of infection in mutton, the meat was 

 supposed to have been infected from contaminated ox 

 tongue (the organism found being B. suipestifer). In 

 many cases meat has been derived from animals that had 

 enteritis, in other cases all the evidence points to infection 

 of the meat post mortem. It is known that a piece of 

 infected meat will infect a sound piece if in juxtaposition. 



It has been suggested that Gartner bacilli are more or 

 less natural inhabitants of the animal intestine. Savage 

 has shown that, although prepared meat foods are very 

 often subject to extensive contamination of excretal 

 origin, Gartner bacilli are not often to be found. He is 

 therefore of opinion that the Gartner Group organisms 

 (or other special bacilli) are ' derived from animals which 

 are either at the time suffering from disease due to Gartner 

 Group bacilli, or acting as carriers of these bacilli.' 



Infected meat has usually been normal in appearance, 

 taste, and smell, but salty or other peculiar flavours have 

 been sometimes noticed, and turbidity of jelly was men- 

 tioned in one case. 



Gartner's bacillus is easily killed by heat, not surviving 

 thirty minutes at 60 C., but it produces a heat-resistant 

 toxin that, as it is not destroyed in thirty minutes at 

 100 C., would survive most cooking processes. 



Symptoms are due to action of the toxins, their onset is 

 generally sudden and may include vomiting, diarrhoea, 

 pains in abdomen and head (sometimes in back and limbs 

 as well), prostration, collapse, cold sweats, rigors, cramps, 

 rashes, furred tongue, offensive breath and moderate 

 pyrexia. 



If the affected food contain toxins preformed in the 

 food, onset of symptoms may take place almost immedi- 

 ately after ingestion. In most cases, however, the food 

 contains toxins and bacteria, and symptoms may com- 

 mence any time within thirty-six hours. Bainbridge 

 suggests the rat's intestine to be the true home of Gartner's 

 bacillus (see also p. 97). 



