378 ENTERO-HEPATITIS IN TURKEYS 



they were carefully examined by t)r. Theobald Smith. In the 

 summer of 1894, Smith made a careful study of this disease at 

 the Rhode Island Experiment Station. He found that it was 

 caused by one of the protozoa {Ameba meleagridis, Smith). 

 He published a full description of the disease which, in accord- 

 ance with the lesions, he designated Infectious entero- hepatitis. 



In 1895, the disease was further investigated respecting 

 the mode of transmission of the infecting protozoa. The 

 results showed that it could be transmitted directly from dis- 

 eased to healthy turkeys without the intervention of an inter- 

 mediate host. These results were published in 1896. The 

 place and the time of the first appearance of this disease are 

 not clearly stated, but it seems that New England was the first 

 to suffer from it. 



Recently, Chester of the Delaware Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station has shown that a very similar disease attacks 

 chickens. 



§ 298. Geographical distribution. The available data 

 bearing upon the geographical distribution of this disease in- 

 dicate that it is widely distributed. The New England states, 

 particularly Rhode Island and certain districts in the Middle 

 and Western states, are affected. It has not yet been reported 

 from the Southern states. For want of statistics the amount 

 of loss to the poultry industry occasioned by this disease can 

 not be accurately estimated, but the fact that it has caused 

 many farmers and poultry men in New England to discontinue 

 the raising of turkeys shows that it is of much economic im- 

 portance. It is stated in the report of the Rhode Island Ex- 

 periment Station for 1894 that "the eradication of this disease 

 would be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to the east- 

 ern farmers alone." These heavy losses in the East, together 

 with the accumulating evidence that the entire northern third 

 of this country is sprinkled with infected districts from which 

 the disease is spreading, indicate that this malady is of more 

 than ordinary significance to those engaged in the turkey 

 industry. 



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