Studies of the Chick Edema Disease

FOLLOWING the early reports of the chick edema disease (CED), Sanger et al. (1958), Potter et al. (1959), Allen (1961) and Allen and Lalich (1962) reported toxicological studies which established that the disease differed from known poultry diseases. A number of investigators reported on the purification, isolation and partial chemical characterization of toxic factor (Brew et al., 1959; Friedman et al., 1959; Wootton and Alexander, 1959; Ames et al., 1960; Harman et al., 1960; Yartzoff et al., 1961; Wootton et al., 1962; and Wootton and Courchene, 1964). Brew et al. (1959) reported that broiler chicks developed the disease when fed a fraction purified 3200-fold from the original starting material. A fraction purified 10,000-fold which elicited CED was reported by Friedman et al. (1959). Yartzoff et al. (1961) reported that a fraction purified 3,000,000-fold from a low potency commercial triolein produced hydropericardium (HP) when fed to day-old chicks at 50…