INFECTIOUS DISEASES 317 



8. WotFF UND Israel. Ueber Reincultur des Actinomyces und 

 seine Uebertragbarkeit auf Thiere. Virch. Arch. Bd XXVI 

 (1891), S. II. 



9. Wright. The biology of the microorganism of actinomycosis. 

 The Jour, of Med. Research, Vol. XIII {1905), p. 349. 



ACTINOBACILLOSIS. 



§ 236. Characterization. Actinobacillosis is described 

 as an infectious disease of cattle, characterized by its clinical 

 resemblance to actinomycosis. It is caused by an organism 

 which "resembles, in marked degree, the bacterium of Fowl 

 Cholera." It arranges itself in the tissues in "rosette" or 

 ray-like forms. It is thought by some workers to be a variety 

 of actinomycosis. It is described as an independent and dis- 

 tinct disease. 



§ 237. History. Lignieres and Spitz described, in 1902, 

 a disease in cattle resembling actinomycosis but which was 

 caused by a bacterium. Until 1900-01 this affection was not 

 differentiated from actinomycosis. Nocard, in 1902, identified 

 the disease in France. In 1904, Higgins described four cases 

 in Canada. These appear to be the only records we have of 

 this affection. 



§ 238. Geographical distribution. It is reported by 

 Lignieres and Spitz to be epizootic in Argentine Republic. 

 It has been described in France, and in Canada. 



§ 239. Etiology. This disease is caused, according to 

 its investigators, by a bacterium which arranges itself in the 

 tissues in a rosette or ray-like appearance. It is aerobic, 

 facultative anaerobic, non-motile and of a variable size, rang- 

 ing between i.o and 1.8 yu in length and from 0.4 to 0.6 /t in 

 breadth. According to Higgins, it has a distinct polar arrange- 

 ment of the protoplasm as observed in the hanging drop prep- 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



