Diseases

Extract

Pullorum disease in captive quail. M. W. Emmel. Jour. Amer. Vet. Med. Assoc., Vol. 89, 1936, p. 716.

An investigation was made by the Florida Experiment Station of losses which occurred throughout the 1936 growing season in young quail on a farm maintaining about 300 pairs of breeding birds. Cultures made from the organs of 2 of 5 affected quail chicks examined yielded a microorganism having the characteristics of Salmonella pullorum. The infection appeared to have been introduced to the premises of the farm by birds raised in captivity that had been received in March, the infection having been spread to a considerable extent by means of the incubators. It is pointed out that while it is unlikely that pullorum disease is of particular importance in wild quail at this time, the release of pullorum-infected birds from quail farms is a potential menace to the future welfare of this game bird, particularly at this time, when the restocking of the wild supply is a conservation program of many States.