The Laboratory Application of Anhydrous Salmonella pullorum Antigen

Abstract

ALMONELLA PULLORUM was first described by Rettger,4 and its definite relation to the disease was established by him in 1900 and 1901.5 In an effort to eradicate this economically important malady, Rettger and Stoneburn7 attempted to identify carrier hens by bacteriological examination of yolks. This procedure was important in demonstrating that infected hens lay infected eggs, but it was found to be too laborious and uncertain to be of much practical value in identifying infected breeders. Over the years many methods have been described and advocated for the determination of pullorum infection. Aside from the technique of Ward and Gallagher,12 involving the principle of an allergic reaction in specifically infected subjects most methods are based on the specific agglutination of bacterial cells in the presence of immune serum. A macroscopic tube agglutination was described by Jones3 in 1913. In 1914, Rettger,6 after preliminary trials, endorsed this technique, which has since, with some modification, been the official method for identifying pullorum in many areas. In 1927, Runnells8 and his associates devised the so-called rapid method, an antigen-antibody reaction conducted on a clean glass slide. Bunyea et al.1 announced a simplified agglutination test similar to Runnells' approach but differing in that whole blood is utilized in place of serum. In 1931, Schaffer et al.9 published a modification of the whole-blood procedure employing colored antigen.