Pleuropneumonia-Like Organisms Associated with Synovitis in Fowls

HERE are many types of arthritic diseases which affect turkeys and chickens. Although the majority of them are caused by bacteria, the most common one, infectious synovitis (IS), is not caused by any of these known organisms. Several workers4'5'1,13,17 have studied the nature of the IS agent and have concluded that it was distinct from any pre. viously described agent. It was presumed to be a large virus or rickettsia as suggested by Lecce eit al.until Lecce'0 reported the isolation of a pleuropneumonia-like organism (PPLO) from allantoic fluid of infected embryos. The purpose of this study was to isolate and identify the agent of infectious synovitis.