A CONTRIBUTION TO THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF SPECIFIC INFECTIOUS CYSTITIS AND PYELONEPHRITIS OF COWS

Bacteriological examination of the genito-urinary tract of calves originating in a herd in which infectious cystitis and pyelonephritis exists among the cows, revealed a variety of cultural types of diphtheroids. Of these types, one obtained from a considerable number of the calves resembled in morphology and cultural characters the organism cultivated from the actual cases of the disease. This group had agglutination affinities like those of the organism mentioned and was capable of absorbing agglutinin from antiserum specific for it. When three cows were inoculated intra-urethrally with cultures isolated from the sheaths of calves, two developed transient infections and the other a severe prolonged cystitis and pyelonephritis.