ASTHENIA IN FOWLS AND PIGEONS Q15 
Etiology. Dawson found this disease to be due to the presence of a 
certain species of bacterium which he obtained in pure culture from 
the duodenal contents. He described it as Bacterium asthenic. 
This organism varies from 1 to 1.3 in length and about 0.5y. in width 
with rounded ends. It is reported to possess the peculiarity of mul- 
tiplying in temperatures varying from 50 to 120° F. It is fatal to 
rabbits within 24 hours when inoculated into the abdominal cavity 
with 0.5 ec. of a bouillon culture. Chickens inoculated with this 
organism remained well. 
Symptoms. The only symptoms which seem to be in evidence are 
the gradual loss of flesh and an exceedingly good appetite. It is 
reported by certain pigeon fanciers concerning pigeons, and the fact 
is reiterated by Dawson, that the disease is a very chronic one, often 
extending over a period of several months but usually terminating in 
death. In the cases reported, the fowls were well kept and given an 
abundance of nourishing food. There seems to be an inability on the 
part of the affected animal to assimilate nourishment. 
Morbid anatomy. The most conspicuous lesion is extreme emacia- 
tion. According to Dawson the mucosa of the duodenum contains 
areas in which the walls are deeply reddened and in which the contents 
are of a mucoid substance. The writer made a number of post- 
mortems on pigeons suffering from this disease without finding any 
gross tissue changes other than emaciation. 
The disease needs further investigation, but the fact that an 
organism has been found in the duodenum in large numbers, where it 
multiplies and apparently produces by-products that are absorbed 
and which interfere with the normal metabolism of the body, is of 
sufficient interest to call attention to the preliminary findings herein 
mentioned. It is not unlikely that if the present hypothesis concern- 
ing the nature of this disease is verified, a number of disorders now 
attributed to general causes may be traced to some form of intestinal 
infection. 
REFERENCES 
1. Dawson. Asthenia (going light) in fowls. Annual Report of the Bureau of 
Animal Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1898, p. 329. 
