It stains more or less irregularly, like the tubercle bacillus, and moreover the similarity goes further, in that the organism is also strongly acid-fast, which facts led Johne and Frothingham to surmise that the disease was caused by avian tubercle bacilli.
"Special Report on Diseases of Cattle"
U.S. Department of Agriculture J.R. Mohler
The disease was first studied in 1895 by Johne and Frothingham in Dresden, but they were inclined to attribute to the avian tubercle bacillus the cause of the peculiar lesions of enteritis which they observed.
"Special Report on Diseases of Cattle"
U.S. Department of Agriculture J.R. Mohler
Though the region is old in history, it is new in possibilities of avian observation, and the seeker finds types from those which inhabit the arid sagebrush plains to those which spend their lives in the frigid atmosphere far above timber line.
"Grand Teton [Wyoming] National Park"
United States Dept. of the Interior