INFECTIOUS ENTERO-HEPATITIS 315 
He published a full description of the disease which, in accordance 
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 diseased to healthy turkeys 
without the intervention of an intermediate host. These results 
were published in 1896. The place and the time of the first appear- 
ance of this diesase are not clearly stated, but it seems that New 
. England was the first to suffer from it. ; 
Chester of the Delaware Agricultural Experiment Station has 
shown that a very similar disease attacks chickens and Milks at the 
Louisiana Station found it in fowls. 
Geographical distribution. The available data bearing upon the 
geographical distribution of this disease indicate 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 been reported from Louisiana. For want of statistics the 
amount of loss to the poultry industry occasioned by this dis- 
ease 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 importance. 
It is stated in the report of the Rhode Island Experiment Station for 
1894 that “the eradication of this disease would be worth hundreds of 
thousands of dollars to the eastern farmers alone.” These heavy 
losses in the East, together with the accumulating evidence that the 
entire 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. Jowett states 
that it has been introduced into South Africa with turkeys brought 
from the United States. Its existence in several other countries seems 
to be established. 
Etiology. In 1895, Smith described a microérganism belonging to 
the protozoa which he found to be associated directly with the disease 
process. He designated it Ameba meleagridis. The parasites were 
very numerous in recently affected tissues, while in those in which the 
disease process was far advanced and associated with degenerative or 
regenerative changes, the parasites were found with difficulty. 
Curtice finds that chickens are hosts for the parasites, and together 
with the adult turkeys spread them broad-cast through the droppings. 
