Malta Fever. Distemper of Dogs. 197 



occurs only in about 3% of the cases. Bruce (1887) established as 

 its cause a very small, motile, Gram-negative, oval coccus (micrococcus 

 melitensis). The organism can be cultivated on the ordinary media, 

 and shows considerable resistance against drying. In affected persons 

 the coccus is usually present in the blood, from which it is frequently 

 eliminated with the urine. 



Natural infection occurs in most cases through the ingestion 

 of raw goat milk. Zammit (1905) proved that about 10% of the goats 

 at Malta eliminate the causative agent of Malta fever with their milk, 

 and that many of these animals harbor the organism in their blood. 

 He further found that the serum of about 50% of all goats gives a 

 positive agglutination reaction. As it has been proved that the infec- 

 tion may be readily transmitted through ingestion of infected milk, 

 the drinking of raw goat milk was prohibited in the army, whereupon 

 the morbidity immediately dropped to one tenth of its former rate. 



Goats which pass the microccocus melitensis with the milk, and 

 also with the urine, usually show no, or only slightly marked symptoms, 

 but if they are killed, hyperemia and acute swelling of the spleen, 

 together with swelling of the lymph glands, especially of the mesen- 

 teric and inguinal will frequently be found. Exceptionally nephritis 

 and lobular pneumonia are present. The causative factor may be 

 isolated by culture procedures from the lesions in the organs, as well 

 as from the blood and from the udder (in chronic cases only from 

 the latter). 



Goats are easily infected per os, and it appears that the natural 

 infection occurs by this method, especially by the ingestion of feed 

 contaminated by urine of affected animals. The virus then becomes 

 localized in the internal organs and in the udder, where it produces 

 inflammatory changes, from which the bacteria pass into the milk. 

 Intravenous or subcutaneous injections of cultures produce, sometimes, 

 a severe affection, with symptoms of septicemia. It is also possible 

 to produce a mild form of the disease in monkeys. 



The infectious properties of the goat milk may in some cases be 

 established by the presence of the virus; it may also be considered 

 infectious if the blood serum of the suspected animals agglutinates 

 cultures of the organisms in dilutions of at least 1 to 30. The aggluti- 

 nation test may be also made with milk (Zammit), or with milk serum 

 (Pulvirenti), and Wright's opsonic test also gives good results. 



Literature. Babes, Hb. d. p. M., 1903, III, 438, Eeport of the English Com- 

 mission, London, 1905-1907, Vol. I- VII. — Mohler & Hart, Bureau Anim. Industry, 

 1908, 279. 



9. Distemper of Dogs. Febris catarrhalis et nervosa canum 



{Bog ill,- Pasteurellosis canum, Maladie des chiens, Maladie du 



jeune age {French']; Staupe der Hunde iGerman] ; 



Cimurro, Moccio canino [Italian]. 



Distemper is an acute, contagious infectious disease of 

 young carnivorous animals,, and is characterized by febrile 

 manifestations, and an acute catarrh of the mucous membranes, 

 which is frequently followed by catarrhal pneumonia, and in 

 some cases by the development of nervous symptoms. The 

 disease is caused by a filtrable virus. 



