Effects of Endotoxin on Turkey Poults

SummaryAttempts to produce the generalized Shwartzman phenomenon in the turkey poult were unsuccessful. Large (1,000-15,000 μg) single doses of endotoxin, administered intravenously, failed to produce vascular collapse or other clinical signs in the poult. Attempts to reproduce a syndrome with lesions similar to aortic dissecting aneurysm as it occurs under field conditions, by use of endotoxin alone, or in combination with adrenalin, were unsuccessful. These experiments cast some doubt on the likelihood of Gram-negative organisms or sensitization by them being responsible for the naturally-occurring syndrome of dissecting aneurysm.