Corticosterone and ACTH as Treatments for Escherichia Coli Infection in Chickens

PREVIOUS work from our laboratory (Gross and Colmano, 1967Gross and Colmano, 1969) has shown that social interaction among chickens alter their susceptibility to some bacterial and viral diseases. Placing 6–10 week old chickens among unfamiliar individuals, induces a high degree of social interaction which results in an increase in resistance to some bacterial infections (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus fecalis) and a decrease in resistance to some viral infections (Newcastle disease, hemorrhagic enteritis). A low degree of social interaction is obtained by placing birds either singly or in pairs in visually isolated cages for three weeks prior to experimentation. This result in a decreased resistance to bacterial infections and an increased resistance to viral infections. In a series of experiments, 84% (51/61) of the low social interaction and 19% (19/102) of the high social interaction birds developed pericarditis when infected with E. coli via the air sac route. We have determined…