324 INFECTIOUS DISEASES 



birds until we are satisfied that they are free from disease. 

 The occasional disinfection of the poultry houses and runs is 

 highly important. Cleaning the poultry house by removing the 

 floor, roosts, or any part of the house for the purpose of removing 

 all filth, and spraying the interior with a three per cent water 

 solution of a cresol disinfectant, should be practised. Lime 

 should be scattered over the runs, or the yards immediately about 

 the house. The above preventive measures form an important 

 part of the care and management of the flock. The carcasses of 

 the dead birds should be burned. It is advisable to kill all birds 

 that are fatally sick. 



All of the flock should be given antiseptics with the feed and 

 water. Four ounces of a water solution of copper sulfate, made 

 by dissolving one-quarter pound of this drug in one gallon of 

 hot water, may be added to each gallon of drinking water. Fre- 

 quent disinfection of the drinking fountains, feeding places and 

 houses should be practised. 



Diseases Resembling Fowl Cholera. — There are a few dis- 

 eases, such as septicaemia, limber neck and infectious enteritis, 

 that are sometimes mistaken for fowl cholera. These diseases 

 are caused by different microorganisms that may be found in the 

 digestive tract and air-passages of healthy birds, insanitary 

 conditions and decomposed feed, especially meat. It seems that 

 under certain conditions, such as insanitary quarters and birds 

 that are low in constitutional vigor and weakened from other 

 causes, certain germs may become disease-producers. The 

 death rate from mixed infections is very heavy in poultry. 



The symptoms vary in the different cases. The disease may 

 be highly acute, as in limber neck, or chronic, extending over a 

 period of a week or more. Diarrha?a is not a prominent symp- 

 tom in the majority of cases. 



The post-mortem lesions vary from a hemorrhagic to a 

 chronic inflammation of the different body organs and serous 

 membranes. 



