690 



Tuberculosis 



fowl tuberculosis 



Bacillus Txjberculosis Avium 



The occasional spontaneous occurrence of tuberculosis in chickens, 

 parrots, ducks, and other birds, observed as early as 1868 by Roloff* 

 and Paulicki,t was originally attributed to Bacillus tuberculosis 

 hominis, but the work of Rivolta,t Mafucci,§ Cadio, Gilbert and 

 Roger, 1 1 and others has shown that, while similar to it in many 

 respects, the organism found in the avian diseases has distinct pe- 

 culiarities which make it a different variety, if not a separate species. 

 Cadio, Gilbert, and Roger succeeded in infecting fowls by feeding 

 them upon food containing tubercle bacilli, and keeping them in 

 cages in which dust containing tubercle bacilli was placed. The 



Fig. 280. — Bacillus tuberculosis avium. 



infection was aided by lowering the temperature of the birds with 

 antipyrin and lessening their vitality by starvation. 



Morphologic Peculiarities. — Morphologically, the organism found 

 in avian tuberculosis is similar to that found in the mammalian 

 disease, but is a little longer and more slender, with more marked 

 tendency to club and branched forms. Fragmented and beaded 

 forms occur as in the human tubercle bacilli. 



Staining. — The avian bacillus stains in about the same manner 

 as the human and bovine bacilli and has an equal resistance to 

 the decolorant effect of acids. 



Cultivation. — Marked rapidity and luxuriance of growth are 



* "Mag. f. d. ges Tierheilkunde," 1868. 

 t "Beitr. zur vergl. Anat.," Berlin, 1872. 

 t "Giorn. anat. fisiol. e. path.," Pisa, 1883. 

 § "Zeitschrift fur Hygiene," Bd. xi. 

 II "La Semaine medicale," 1890, p. 45. 



