LISTERIA monocytogenes was first isolated from chickens by Seastone in 1935. Gray (1954) tabulated a complete list of investigators reporting listeriosis in chickens.Paterson (1937) observed sudden death in adult birds and a gradual wasting in young fowl with a listeric infection. Seastone (1935) and Graham and Levine (1943) observed no encephalitic symptoms in chickens infected with L. monocytogenes. A nervous disorder was reported by Van der Vlerk (1954) from a case of listeriosis in a young hen.In general, gross lesions produced by L. monocytogenes are characterized by necrosis of the myocardium; congestion and necrosis of the liver and spleen; general edema; fluid in the abdominal cavity and pericardial sac; enlargement of the liver, spleen, kidneys and heart. These gross lesions have been reported by Seastone (1935), Cole (1941), Hurt et al. (1941), Pallaske (1941), Graham and Levine (1943), Bigland (1950) and Thompson (1954).L. monocytogenes was observed within …
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