HEAD, THROAT AND LUNGS 



such as unsuitable food, or feeding, unhygienic yards, bad water supply, 

 etc., contribute towards the spread of the disease. Oncie present i^ a poul- 

 try yard, the roup-causing bacilli cannot be got rid of, unless by very care- 

 ful disinfection; and this is valueless so long as any of the fowls are diseased; 

 and, as we have already stated, fowls often remain affected with roup carry- 

 ing the germ in a semi-dormant state, for months or years. 



Treatment and Preventatives 



As roup is not a specific infectious disease that is, a disease caused by 

 a single species of germ, it is almost impossible to prepare a preventative 

 or curative serum. Hence this method of treating infectious diseases can- 

 not be used in roup, and besides it would be very costly. 



The germs of roup are not very resistent; they can easily be destroyed 

 when present in cultures, or somewhere outside the animal; but in the ani- 

 mal tissue, they are very diffictdt to kflli because they penetrate into the 

 tissue; and unless this too is killed, the germs continue living for a long time. 

 Roup may be cured by remedies, if the treatment is careful and judi- 

 cious. 



Obstinately re-appearing false membranes can be successfully treated 

 by burning the diseased tissue with a strong acid (hydrochloric acid 50 per 

 cent to 75 per cent) or other caustics, such as silver nitrite. If the eyes and 

 nose are attacked, they have to be carefully washed, at least twice a day, 

 with an antiseptic solution, such as 2 per cent boracic acid in a decoction 

 of chamomile flowers, or J per cent solution of corrosive sublimate. Thus 

 the micro-organisms are killed or at least, the diseased products which are 

 discharged are removed, and the irritation caused by them, also the trans- 

 formation into large cheesy masses is prevented. 



We had chickens badly affected with roup of the eyes, which were 

 cured with boracic acid and chamomile. On account of the smallness of 

 the nostrils and nasal canals, it is very diflScult to get the antiseptic solutions 

 into the nose and nasal cavities; but it can be done with a small syringe. 

 If this treatment is too troublesome, then the nostrils, at least, should be 

 washed and opened several times a day, to allow the secretions to pass 

 away. We have treated chickens for 14 days by daily washing with a two 

 and one-half per cent solution of creolin and glycerine. After the wash- 

 ings, small plugs of cotton wool, filled with mixture, were placed in the 

 nostrils and lachrymal ducts. This remedy did not cure the roup, although 

 the same mixture readily kills the roup bacillus in cultures in from 2 to 3 

 minutes. The greatest hindrance to a sure cure, by remedies which have 

 been used locally, is the ability of the germ to penetrate into the tissue and 

 the many secondary cavities of the nostrils which cannot be reached by the 

 antiseptic. 



Another method of treatment which gives excellent results, especially 

 in the early stages of roup, is the use of 1 to 2 per cent of permanganate 

 of potash. Fowls are treated in the following manner: The nostrils are 



n 



