Trichomonas diversa n. sp. and Its Association with a Disease of Turkeys

Abstract

Trichomonads in mammals, including man, have been described from the lung, the oral cavity, the stomach, the intestinal tract and the genital tract. In domestic birds, Trichomonads have thus far been found mainly in the lower digestive tract and, occasionally, in the liver and in the bloodstream. In the present paper, the author reports observations of a Trichomonas in the lumen of the upper digestive tract of the domestic turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). The observations were made on 105 naturally infected turkeys from various parts of North Dakota and western Minnesota over a period of five years (October, 1925 to September, 1930). In all these turkeys, the Trichomonas could readily and abundantly be found throughout the entire length of the upper digestive tract; that is, in the mouth cavity, the superior esophagus, the crop, the inferior esophagus and the proventriculus. Beyond the intermediary zone, dividing the glandular from the muscular stomach, this Trichomonas has never been found to occur in these infected turkeys, neither in the bulbous stomach nor in the small or large intestines. Evidently the altered chemical composition of the ingesta in the lower digestive tract is detrimental to the life of this protozoon. It must be mentioned here that this protozoon has always been found by the author to be associated with a disease in these turkeys as yet obscure and little-known. This apparently new disease has first been mentioned by Jungherr (1927) from Montana and later by Vawter and Records (1928) from Nevada, although neither of the authors reports the finding of flagellates. The clinical manifestation of this turkey disease consists of a catarrh of the mucosa of the upper digestive tract leading to ptosis ingluviei. The anatomical changes consist of peculiar greyish or yellowish, tumorlike granulations or excrescences, conical in appearance with a base 1 mm. or more in diameter, firmly seated in the mucosa and submucosa, older lesions even penetrating to the serosa. The sides of the cones have a ragged, cauliflower-like surface. From the center of each one of these cones extends a smooth projection, attaining several mm's in length and resembling a sprout. As the lesions increase in size, several of them unite and grow together, the tops wear off and the lesions form large, raised patches with roughened, necrotic surface. Their borders