1931 ANNUAL REPORT. 1930 19 



It is to be regretted that we were not able to investigate the outbreak 

 sooner when the bacterin could have been of use in keeping down the losses. 

 Ranchers would be well advised to call in qualified assistance as soon as possible 

 in cases of infectious disease. Once the infection becomes well established the 

 difficulty in stopping its spread is more than doubled. Outbreaks may run 

 their course and subside after the losses reach a certain maximum. In this 

 instance the value of the prepared bacterin may be only an assumption. 



Tuberculosis in a Wild Raccoon 

 History 



Three wild raccoon were sent to the Fur Farm on May 28th (seizure No. 

 7,951 — Legault). Three months later, on August 28th, one that had been in 

 poor condition for some time died. 



Autopsy 



The carcass was in a generally poor condition, with a total absence of body 

 fat, which is most unusual in this species of animal. The abdominal cavity was 

 greatly distended with ascitic fluid. The peritoneum presented a par-boiled 

 appearance. The stomach was found to contain numerous blood-sucking 

 nematodes, later identified as Physaloptera sp. The lining mucosa was inflamed 

 where the parasites had been attached. The outer wall of the stomach, 

 omentum, and spleen were involved in a huge abscess-tumour formation. 

 Intestinal lymphatic glands were enlarged and somewhat caseous. Lungs and 

 heart were normal and showed no lesions. 



Laboratory Diagnosis 



A smear of the pus from the spleen was stained with Gram's method but 

 showed up no pathogens. An acid-fast stain was also attempted for tubercle 

 bacilli but none could be demonstrated. Blood agar culture plates were negative. 



Animal Inoculation. — The possibility of tuberculosis could not be over- 

 looked, so a guinea pig was injected hypodermically with an emulsion of the 

 ground-up spleen in normal saline. On September 25th, the injected guinea pig 

 died in an emaciated condition. The autopsy showed a perfect picture of 

 miliary tubercular lesions throughout the entire intestinal organs and lymphatic 

 glands. The spleen was enlarged and showed areas of caseation. The peritoneum 

 was studded with a multitude of tiny tubercles. Acid-fast stain revealed the 

 presence of long curved acid-fast bacilli. Culture was attempted on egg media 

 but was unsuccessful. Two more guinea pigs were injected subcutaneously 

 with an emulsion of the ground-up spleen of the dead guinea pig. One of these 

 died on October 22nd, and showed lesions identical with the above. The mate 

 was seen to be emaciated and likely to die so it was sent to Dr. Neil McKinnon, 

 pathologist at the Connaught Laboratories, Toronto, for positive diagnosis and 

 type determination. 



The second guinea pig died on November 11th and was given for autopsy 

 to Dr. M. H. Brown, who reported as follows: 



Inguinal lymph glands enlarged and caseous. Direct smear shows numerous long curved 

 and beaded acid-fast bacilli. Greater omentum was a much enlarged mass of coalesced tubercles. 

 Lesser omentum studded with small yellow-grey tubercles. Retroperitoneal glands enlarged and 

 caseous. Spleen enlarged three times its usual size, red in colour and with large yellow necrotic 

 areas. Smears from all lesions show acid-fast tubercle bacilli. Lungs were studded with isolated 



