A Coagulation Defect Produced by Nitrogen Mustard

Abstract

Air samples were collected from poultry houses where pneumoencephalitis (PE) vaccination trials were conducted for several yrs. Each house contained nonvaccinated controls and birds vaccinated with formalized PE vaccine. Air samples were taken from control pens where there was clinical evidence of PE. Air samples were drawn through allantoic fluids from normal 10-day chick embryos. The fluids were frozen immediately in dry ice, then thawed, treated with 10,000U. of penicillin and 24,000 of streptomycin/-ml. of inoculum; and incubated for 4 hrs. at 9[degree]C. The treated fluids contained no viable bacteria. 13 of 15 11-day-old chick embryos injd. with 0.2 ml. of the sample from an infected control pen died at a mean age of 6.5 days. In 2 later embryo passages, half of the 2d generation embryos died at a mean age of 3.6 days; all of the 3d generation died at a mean age of 4 days. Allantoic fluids from embryos of generation 3 agglutinated chicken red blood cells; generation 1 and 2 embryos failed to do so. Chickens inoculated with allantoic fluids from embryos of generation 3 developed PE. At autopsy they had lesions typical of those produced by cultured PE virus. Four normal chicks were exposed to the aerial environment of a house containing birds affected with PE. Respiratory symptoms appeared on the 6th day. On the 8th-day sera from 3 of the 4 birds contained hemag-glutinin-inhibiting antibodies. On the 15th day the birds were challenged with 2 X 106 chicken M. L. D. of PE virus. All 4 birds were refractive.