90 POULTRY DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT. 



disease closely association with roup." ' Robinson gives a brief 

 statement of the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of this dis- 

 ease as follows : "Briefly stated, the symptoms are of a sud- 

 den and severe cold, Avith high fever, generally diarrhea, and 

 extreme debility. In very severe cases death may ensue with- 

 in a few hours after the fowl is observed to be sick. Usually 

 the bad cases linger for a day or two, while those that recover 

 run for a week or lo days. Treatment the same as for bad 

 colds." 



Quite possibly this is not a separate disease but is either a 

 severe form of cold occurring in many individuals of a flock 

 which has been exposed to unfavorable, insanitary conditions, 

 or is a mild form of roup. 



Roup (Contagions CatarrJi, Diphtheria, Diphtheritic Roup, 



Canker). 



Veterinarians have distinguished two diseases belonging to 

 this general class of troubles as follows: (a) roup or contagious 

 catarrh when only catarrhal symptoms are present, and (b) 

 diphtheria, diphtheritic roup and canker when diphtherial 

 patches and false membranes are formed. The bacteriologists 

 Moore, Harrison and Streit, consider these different stages of 

 the same disease. Cary not only considers these as one disease 

 but also believes that sorehead, chicken pox or epithelioma con- 

 tagiosnm is also a form of this disease. These questions cannot 

 be settled with the present knowledge of the causes of these 

 diseases. The evidence for considering roup and diphtheria 

 as successive stages in the same disease seem much better than 

 the evidence that sore-head is a form of this disease. In the 

 present work sore-head is treated separately. 



Roup is a disease of very great economic importance. It is 

 widely distributed causing a large annual death rate, and also 

 reducing the value and production of affected flocks since many 

 birds contract the disease in a chronic form and become worth- 

 less for egg production or breeding. Such birds preserve the 

 germs of the disease and this leads to fresh outbreaks when- 

 ever the flock is exposed to unfavorable conditions. 



Diagnosis. Harrison and Streit* give a very good descrip- 



*Harrison, F. C, and Streit, H., Roup. Ont. Agr. Coll. & Exy':. 

 Farm. Bulletin 125, Dec. 1902, pp. 1-16. 



