THE TYPE SPECIFIC CAPSULAR ANTIGEN OF PASTEURELLA MULTOCIDA

Abstract

It has been demonstrated by means of two precipitation techniques and a capsular swelling test that Pasteurella multocida possesses a type specific capsular antigen presumably polysaccharide in nature. The antigens employed in the precipitation tests were recovered from virulent cultures by two techniques. In the first the capsular antigen was released by organisms suspended in normal saline and in the second the specific antigen was recovered by an extraction method. Antisera were produced in rabbits and chickens by the inoculation of formolized culture suspensions. On the basis of the type specific capsular antigen, three distinct serological types of P. multocida have been identified.