Abstract
Summary
Differential characters of two strains of Clostridium botulinum, type E, are described. One strain was isolated from German-canned sprats; the other from Nova Scotian smoked salmon. Culturally they can be differentiated by colony formation on horse blood agar plates. Agglutination and absorption tests indicate them to be of distinct serologic groups.
The toxins of both strains were neutralized reciprocally by their antitoxins. Tests for toxigenic activity demonstrated, however, that the toxins were not identical. Subcutaneous injections of both toxins uniformly gave rise to symptoms characteristic of botulism in guinea pigs, mice, rabbits, and kittens. White Leghorn chickens were highly susceptible to the toxin of the salmon strain but not to that of the sprat strain. In chickens 4 to 12 weeks old, approximately 6 to 8 guinea pig M.L.D. of the salmon toxin gave rise to fatal botulism, while doses of the sprat toxin several hundred times as large failed to kill or induce symptoms of botulism. The sprat toxin was demonstrable in the blood and also in the excreta of some of the chickens 72 hours after inoculation.
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