CHAPTER VII 



DISEASES CAUSED BY BACTERIA 

 FAMILY SPIRILLACE^. 



§ 221. General Consideration of Spirillaceae. This 

 family of bacteria has thus far revealed very few species that 

 are pathogenic for domesticated animals. 



§ 222. Diseases of fowls caused by spirillaceae. 

 The disease of fowls reported to be caused by these organisms 

 has not been found in this country. It is not unlikely that 



some one or more of the many 

 as yet mysterious diseases of 

 poultry may be caused by 

 members of this family. It is 

 interesting to note that spirilla 

 are not uncommon in the bac- 

 terial contents of the intes- 

 tines. It is believed that 

 many of these are anaerobes, 

 which would explain the diffi- 

 culty encountered in trying to 

 isolate them in pure culture. 



Sakharoff studied, in 1891, 

 a peculiar disease of geese and 

 showed it to be caused by a 

 spirillum. It was designated 

 spirochaete anserina. Cantacuzene has studied the mode of 

 destruction of the spirilla. He found that they are destroyed 

 by and within the macrophages of the spleen. 



The morbid anatomy in the affections caused by the 

 spirilla appear to be largely engorgement of the spleen and 



Fig. 67. Spirochaete anserina from 



the blood of a goose {after 



Cantacuzene) . 



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