PRELiMiNARY STUDIES ON NEUROLYMPHOMATOSiS AND 

 SOME MORE OR LESS RELATED DISEASES 



Bv Charles S. Gibbs, ' Research Professor of Veterinary Science 



Neurohniphomatosis, generall\' referred to as "fowl paralysis," is quite coninion 

 in the United States and Europe, and has been recognized in Massachusetts since 

 Kaupp (1921) and Pappenheinier (1926) described it. All breeds of chickens are 

 susceptible, but turke>s, geese, ducks, other poultry, and wild fowl are not 

 known to be affected. Ordinarily, it is a disease of pullets and cockerels of three 

 to eight months of age, and the heaviest losses usually occur in the late summer 

 and earh- fall, although there are exceptions to this rule. 



The most noticeable symjitonis are parahsis of either one or both legs or the 

 wings, and blindness marked by a greyish appearance of the eye. The comb 

 and wattles are usually of normal color, and the birds have a good appetite as 

 long as they are able to eat. The symptoms may appear suddenly or gradually, 

 and the birds may die in a few weeks, or the condition may be prolonged over a 

 period of se\eral months. \'ery few cases of neurolymphomatosis ever recover. 



Diagnosis is usualh- made by observation of the disease in a flock and by 

 necrops\' of dead birds. A definite technique for the macroscopic diagnosis 

 has been worked out b\' Jungherr (1933). The lesions are located in the ner\ous 

 sxstem and contiguous tissues, such as the blood, visceral organs, muscles, etc. 

 Since the tissue changes are very difficult to recognize in some cases, the history 

 of the outbreak, the symptoms of the sick birds, and the general appearance of 

 the flock are of great aid in differentiating neurohniphomatosis from some other 

 diseases and obtaining a satisfactory diagnosis. 



The real cause of neurolymphomatosis is unknown. There have been con- 

 siderable speculation and seme laboratory study on this phase of the disease, 

 but without an\ definite conclusions. In other words, to determine the etiology 

 of neurohniphomatosis, the investigator should have at his disposal a well- 

 equipped laboratory' and a poultry plant with facilities for hatching and isolation 

 of different groups of birds. The cost of such an undertaking has, up to the 

 present, precluded any satisfactor>' demonstration of the etiological agent. 



Etiology 



Attempts to transmit neurohniphomatosis in this stud\' ha\'e not been uni- 

 formly successful. In all, 400 chickens have been inoculated subcutaneously, 

 intramuscularh", intraperitonealh', and intracranially with neoplastic suspensions 

 of disea.sed nerves and tumor tissue in phxsiological saline solution without showing 

 an>- symptoms of disease. Also 400 uninoculated controls from the same flocks 

 and reared under the same conditions did not re\eal any lesions of either neuro- 

 lymphomatosis or h iiiphocx tomatosis at necropsy. In addition, 60 chickens 



'The writer extends his sincere thanks to Oliver S. Klint, Department of Veterinary Science, 

 Massachusetts .-Xgricultural Expcrin'.enl Station, for doing the photographic work for this bulletin; 

 and to the Poultry Department of the College and Experiment Station, which made this study 

 possible. 



