The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-03-18
IN FOWLS-ITS
 SYMPTOMS AND TRANSMISSION
Differs in Minor Details From Other Forms of This Disease, But It Should Be Quarantined. How Germs Are Spread; i; Tests to Prove the Exist ence of the Disease
By DIR, B. F. KAUPP

Poultry Investigator and pathoIogbt
 for the United States department or
 agriculture.
 Fowls are heir to almost as many
 diseases as we humans. It is not gen.
 orally known that they contract tu-
 berculosis, but they do. Fortunately
 it is an uncommon disease. It is, how
 ever, a highly contagious ailment, and
 for that reason poultry raisers should
 get acquainted with its symptoms, and
 learn how to prevent its spread.
 In 1885 a German physician discov-
 cred that tuberculosis in humans was
 due to a germ. Later similar disease
 in cattle was found to be due to
 germ closely resembling the first, and
 further that the disease of cattle was
 transmitted to hogs and chickens
 which can be stained and observed
 under the microscope. It must be mag
 nified at least 1000 times to be vis-
 ible to the eye. This acid-fast germ
 causes a disease in fowls and pos
 sibly other birds. from which can be
 isolated by laboratory methods sim
 liar organism to that producing tu-
 berculosis in persons and cattle. It
 differs in minor details, and Is con-
 sidered as being another type from
 the other two.
 How Fowls Contract the Germ
 Like hogs. fowls often follow the
 trail of cattle in the feed lot, picking
 up undigested corn and other grains.
 If the cattle are afflicted with tuber-
 culosis. the birds are likely to receive
 these virulent germs and contract the
 disease. Hogs are known to contract
 tuberculosis in the same way and later
 distribute the diseases to others.
 Naturally fowls afflicted with tu-
 bercular ulcers give off germs of the
 disease, and as the habit of fowls is
 to pick up their food from the ground it is an easy matter for the disease to spread throughout flock.
 Fortunately. tuberculosis is not a very common disease, and for that reason very few breeders are familiar with it. It is not generally known that a bird may be afflicted with tu- berculosis and yet show no outward signs of the disease. If such bird is shipped in a crate or kept in a pen, which crate or pen is later used for other birds the new birds are likely to contract the disease.
 Carrion Birds Spread Disease Birds which have died of the dis ease, if their bodies are carelessly thrown around the premises are a con- stant menace to other fowls. Crows, buzzards and other carrion birds are apt to feast upon these bodies and !; still further add to the danger. Some states have Jaws forbidding the killing | of buzzards which should be repealed ] It is a proven fact that buzzards feas, upon animals dead of contagious dis eases and then fly long distances spreading the disease either through their droppings or vomitus, or by alighting on other premises. Instead of penalizing the killing of buzzards, those states should offer a bounty for them. The moral of this tale is to be careful and deeply bury all carcases. preferably in lime, or better still, if possible. burn them immediately they are found. Not only the bodies of birds afflicted with contagious dis eases should be burned or buried, but all animal matter should be so treated. Dogs, cats, rats. mice and other ami
 mals. even persons, serve to spread the disease. The germs are carried on the feet and in the fur of these creatures and carried from yard to yard, some times spreading the contagion for hun dreds of miles. This Is one of the req sons for a rigid quarantine against all contagious diseases among animals. And quarantine regulations should include contagious diseases of birds.
 The department of agriculture estimates that the total annual loss of poultry from disease alone Is $s, ,50OO00, of which tuberculosis takes certain toll. Though it is an uncommon disease. it is so malignant that poultry keepers must learn to recognize it. Rare as it is. in different parts of the country 1t has been found to exist for years, even when rigid action was taken to stamp it out. By keeping a close watch we can keep this dangerous disease from making terrible inroads on our focks like 1t made on the dairy cattle of our country. We must take a firm stand in stamping and keep ing out this disease by acting as soon as it appears, even though 1t takes some of our best birds. An adverse attitude in the cattle business was very costly in some eases, and we should profit by that experience.
 Insects Spread the ContagiOn Blood-sucking insects may be a source