Plague / Its Cause and the Manner of its Extension, Its Menace, Its Control and Suppression, Its Diagnosis and Treatment

by Thomas Wright Jackson

The Liver.—There was excessive congestion, fatty degeneration, and pigmentation of the cells. The capsule was slightly thickened.

The Skin.—The epithelium was missing in one place in the section, and cellular infiltration extended from that place into the subepithelial layer of the surrounding skin. The same kind of infiltration reached deep into the skin, stripes of cellular infiltration penetrating into the tissue along the muscle fibres. There was no direct connection between the cellular infiltration and the follicles of the hair.

It may be well to describe in detail the time of death from plague among these and the other animals in this outbreak, as well as the time when the plague house was disinfected.

The first animal (rat 1) having been inoculated on August 27, in the afternoon, died of plague within three days (August 30). The second animal (rat 2) died twenty-four hours later. Guinea-pigs 3, 4, and 5 (see plan) were found dead on the morning of September 2; that is, two days after the death of rat 2 and three days after the death of rat 1.

The same day that the three guinea-pigs were found dead of plague, rooms I, III, IV, and VI were thoroughly disinfected. The floor, the ceiling, and the walls were sprayed with kerosene and lysol solution. The remaining animals in room VI were destroyed, and the cages disinfected. No animals were kept in rooms I, III, and IV at that time.

Three days after the death of animal 5, guinea-pigs 6 and 7 were found dead of plague, while the next day guinea-pigs 8 and 9 died. No death occurred on September 7, but the next two days each recorded two plague guinea-pigs (10, 11, 12, and 13). On September 11, the last guinea-pig died of plague in this outbreak. The whole building was then thoroughly disinfected. No plague-inoculated animals were kept in the rooms after the first sign of the epidemic. After September 11, no more cases of spontaneous plague infection were observed.

ANIMAL HOUSE

It will be noticed that the epidemic lasted eleven days after the first animal died and fourteen days after animal 1 was inoculated. Altogether, 14 animals out of at least 200 animals exposed died of plague.

No death occurred among rabbits, although these animals were distributed among the guinea-pigs. In fact, 2 rabbits were surrounded by plague guinea-pigs 8, 9, and 10, but did not contract plague.