CHAPTER IX. 



Cholera. 



Fowl cholera is a virulent, usually fatal and highly infec- 

 tious disease. It is entirely distinct from the ordinary forms 

 of enteritis with which it is often confused by poultrymen. 

 Fowl typhoid and infectious leukaemia are also often mistaken 

 for cholera. Genuine fowl cholera is rather rare in this coun- 

 try but is much more common in Europe. This disease was 

 first reported in this country about 1880 by Salmon (Rept. U. 

 S. Comm. of Agric). Owing to the lack of proper bacteriologi- 

 cal methods at that time Salmon was not able with certainty to 

 identify this disease with the European cholera. From certain 

 experimental work he concluded that some of the symptoms 

 exhibited by the disease in this country were different from 

 those described by European writers. About 1894 Moore (U. 

 S. Bur. An. Ind., Bui. 8) obtained material from several out- 

 breaks of supposed cholera but found this disease to differ in 

 several important respects from the European trouble. More 

 recently Curtice (R. I. Expt. Stat. Bui. 87) has described a 

 disease similar to that of Moore's under the name of fowl 

 typhoid. What appears to be the genuine European fowl 

 cholera has been reported several times within the last few 

 years. 



Fowl cholera attacks all varieties of poultry ; also caged 

 birds and many species of wild birds. "The infection generally 

 occurs by taking food or drink contaminated with the excre- 

 ment of sick birds. It is also possible for birds to be infected 

 through wounds of the skin or by inhalation of the germs in 

 the form of dust suspended in the air. They often take the 

 germs into their bodies by consuming particles of flesh or blood 

 from the carcasses of affected birds that have died or have 

 been killed." 



"The disease is generally introduced upon a farm or in a 

 locality, with new birds, purchased for improving the flocks or 



