Oct. is, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
017 
tirely dry, the intestine much swollen and the 
injected appearance of all vessels supplying them. 
Now this condition in the parlance of the medi¬ 
cal man would indicate a general peritonitis, and 
the post mortem findings seem to bear out the 
clinical symptoms of the dysentery, etc. In the 
human just as -soon as you get a disturbance 
in the bowel, such as an ulceration or inflam¬ 
mation, it is at once followed by either diarrhea 
or mucous discharges from the bowel and great 
pain, so why not in the fowl? At any rate we 
have worked upon the cholera theory, for want 
of a better solution, and have attempted to bury 
the dead carcasses, but you might as well try to 
pick up all the rocks in the road. 
dated Oct. 3, gives some additional details and 
a method of transmission of the disease from 
sick ducks to domestic fowls: 
Our native birds are practically all dead; ducks, 
geese, snipe, the plover and avocet, herons, small 
birds and some tame chickens. I learned yes¬ 
terday of a case where the viscera of infected 
ducks had been fed to tame chickens, which 
were soon attacked in a similar manner, and in 
each case the farmers lost about one hundred 
domestic fowls. 
All the leading clubs of the State closed in¬ 
definitely and we are anxiously awaiting your 
reply to our letter to tell us what to do. We 
feel that in this instance we have to deal with 
Dr. Stewart’s letter was submitted to Dr. W. 
Reid Blair, Veterinarian and Pathologist of the 
New York Zoological Society, at the Zoological 
Park, who has kindly commented on it as fol¬ 
lows : 
The disease affecting the ducks and other 
waterfowl in the vicinity of Salt Lake City, so 
well described by Dr. Stewart, is undoubtedly 
duck cholera. This is an infectious disease 
caused by a fion-motile aerobic bacillus with 
rounded ends. It is about three times as long 
as broad, and stains readily with aniline dyes. 
In morphology and cultures it resembles the 
bacillus of fowl cholera, but fails to infect 
chickens, pigeons or rabbits. It infects ducks 
ON THE GREAT SOUTH BAY MEADOWS. 
Photograph by Lewis Hess. 
We are endeavoring as a sanitary measure 
to get a greater water supply, and to sprinkle 
lime on the roosting grounds, mud flats and duck 
trails, but further than this we are at sea. 
Now, what can you tell us as to the malady? 
Can you suggest any help ? Oct. 1 is opening day, 
all our clubs have had to defer the opening in¬ 
definitely. The health authorities have pro¬ 
hibited the sale of waterfowl as an extra precau¬ 
tion for fear of disease to the people. Any help 
tion for fear of disease to the people. 
We got word upon good authority yesterday 
that the same condition exists in Colorado; at 
any rate we want to know what ails our ducks 
and what to do for them, and when to expect 
relief, therefore, can I, as a representative of 
the sportsmen of this State, ask from you what 
assistance you can give us, and if any of the 
fraternity in general know anything about this 
malady, or what to do for it? We will be under 
everlasting obligation to you all for any assist¬ 
ance or suggestion you can give us. 
W. R. Stewart. 
Another letter received from Dr. Stewart, 
a cholera pure and simple, and arrive at our 
diagnosis of cholera from the clinical and post 
mortem findings. 
I have already explained that we experimented 
by taking nearly one hundred ducks away from 
the infected grounds, and putting them under an 
inclosure, something on the order of a chicken 
yard. Here we gave them pure water and good 
food, and they nearly all got well. We then 
turned them loose and they flew away as well 
as ever. We therefore think that some big 
rains, to wash off the ground, frosts and freez¬ 
ing weather to attenuate the virulence of the 
infection, and our troubles are over. 
As to the probability of injury to the human, 
while I am not in possession of sufficient knowl¬ 
edge on the subject to either affirm or deny, yet 
from what we know of the life and effect of 
certain bacteria, I am inclined to the belief that 
the process of cooking will in a great measure 
kill the infection. At the same time, from an 
esthetic standpoint, I do not care to experiment 
by eating sick ducks. The farmers who shot 
ducks before Oct. 1 and fed the intestines, etc., 
to their chickens, ate the ducks and still survive. 
and many other waterfowl by ingestion. In the 
infected birds the bacillus is always found in 
the blood, also on the intestinal mucous mem¬ 
brane and in the liver. Ducks inoculated with 
cultures of duck bacillus hypodermically or in¬ 
travenously die in from twenty-four hours to 
three days with peritonitis and intense intestinal 
congestion. 
Pond water is a common source of infection, 
especially where there has been overcrowding. 
Summer is the period of greatest prevalence, as 
at this time the best opportunity is afforded for 
the multiplication of the germ, and the drying 
of the ponds concentrates the infected material. 
The mortality in different epidemics varies, but 
in many cases it has reached as high as 85 per 
cent. 
To prevent the spread of this disease remove 
the infected birds from the flock; keep the yards 
clean of droppings and sprinkle the ground occas¬ 
ionally with a 3 per cent, solution of sulphuric 
acid. If it is decided to treat the sick birds, 
they must be removed as soon as illness is de¬ 
tected. and food and water must be clean and 
pure. 
