Etiology and Pathogenesis of Ulcerative Enteritis ("Quail Disease"). The Experimental Disease

SUMMARY A dialysis culture method showed that 1 X 107 viable bacterial cells administered orally consistently produced ulcerative enteritis in quail although 1.3 X 109 were nonpathogenic for chickens. A direct relationship was demonstrated between colony-forming units and infectiousness of the cultures. Chickens were not susceptible to the infection with orally administered pure cultures of this anaerobe. Only quail in the late stages of the acute disease were bacteremic. Quail that showed a chronic illness seemed to die from starvation.