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i' < .-'^■jidi'MiKai College 



massachusetts'^*^*'*'' **ajis, - 



Agricultural Experiment Station 



TECHNICAL BULLETIN No. 10 NOVEMBER, 1926 



THE THERAPEUTIC EFFICIENCY OF 



AVIAN DIPHTHERL\, ROUP, AND BIRD POX 



VACCINES AND BACTERINS 



By Norman J. Pyle 



Avian diptheria, roup and bird pox cause serious loss to Massachusetts 

 poultrymen by decreasing egg production during the season when eggs are 

 bringing the highest prices. In this bulletin the Department of Veterinary 

 Science and Animal Pathology reports results of their study of the prob- 

 lem. A filtrable virus was found to be the cause of all three types of the 

 disease. None of the commercial vaccines produced immunity, neither did 

 they effect a cure when the disease was present, although they caused a 

 slight improvement in the general condition of the birds. Autogenous 

 bacterins, when used in the early stages of the disease, caused an improve- 

 ment in the general health of the birds, but were not of sufficient value 

 to make their use economically profitable. 



Requests for bulletins should be addressed to the 



AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION 



AMHERST, MASS. 



