September, 1952] S. B. V. RAO, S. NARAYANAN, D. R. RAMANI AND J. DAS
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Tube test using the antigen S.p.l7A (a standard Hull Que strain of Salmonella
pullorum received through the courtesy of the Dominion Animal Pathologist, Canada)
was positive to complete titre with the natural serum from the reacting bird,
similarly both chick no. 586 and adult no. 399 antigens reacted to complete titre with
the immune serum prepared from stock culture S.p. 17A. The same serum S.p.l7A
absorbed with chick and adult antigens was found to be completely free of the
homologous agglutinins, conversely the adult no. 399 serum absorbed with the
homologous antigen failed to agglutinate S. p. 17A and chick antigens. Reciprocal
absorption test using rabbit anti-serum prepared in the laboratory resulted in com-
plete absorption of agglutinins for the no. 399 organism as well as the standard
stock pullorum organism.
DISCUSSION
The course and Post-mortem lesions.—The course and lesions in adult fowl and
baby chick due to S. gallinarum are similar to those described by Bushnell [1948],
but with minor difference like the presence of a band of haemorrhage in the sub-
mucosa of the proventriculus and cyanotic instead of anaemic comb and wattles
in the adult. The latter has been described as a rare finding by Van Straaten
and Te Hennepee [1918]. The classic bronze coloured liver ascribed to this disease
as a diagnostic lesion was seen only once in over one hundred post-mortems performed.
Experiments with Reactor hens.—The results of hatching from reactor eggs
showed a 82.3 per cent embryo mortality, and a 33 per cent infected hatch in extreme
cases of a total carrier flock. Further, the organism was also recovered from 36
per cent of the carrier eggs in the isolation experiments. These findings are in close
agreement with Simms' work [1946] in which he reports 37 per cent of hens from
inoculated group and 27 per cent of birds recovering from a natural infection laid
infected eggs.
Pathogenicitys—The organism proved equally pathogenic to baby chicks and
adults under natural conditions, though the disease has been described as of the
young adults. The reports about the susceptibility of pigeon to S. gallinarum
is variable. Bushnell [1948] stated that guinea pigs were very resistant. Klein
[1889] and Lucet [1891] were unable to infect pigeons even with heavy doses of the
culture subcutaneously, while Moore [1895] and Pfeiler and Roepke [1917] proved
that the pigeon was vulnerable. The organism under discussion is very fatal both
to guinea-pigs and pigeons. Similarly, the susceptibility of rabbit is reported to
be low by Pfeiler [1920], Hinshaw and Taylor [1933], while our organism has proved
lethal to rabbits even in minute doses of 0.2 c.c. of a saline suspension with turbidity
adjusted to Brown's standard opacity tube No. 1.
Sulphamezathine in Fowl Typhoid.—Sulphonomide drugs have been tried by
several workers with conflicting results in Fowl typhoid [Bushnell, 1948], and the
experiment under review showed that it is not of much value.
Classification of the organism.—The chick and the adult bird organisms are
serologically identical with the standard S. pullorum strain of Hill Que, Canada,
Both the non-motile organisms could be differentiated from S. pullorum type 'A'
on the basis of not forming gas in sugars, and from the non-gas forming or type 'B'
of pullorum by the quick fermentation of maltose, dulcite and dextrin [Hendrickson,
1927].