RELATION OF BALANTIDIUM COLI INFECTION TO THE DIET AND INTESTINAL FLORA OF THE DOMESTIC PIG*

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Abstract
In determinations on cecal material from 79 pigs, heavy infections with B. coli were accompanied generally by an intestinal flora with greater numbers of aciduric organisms and lesser numbers of lactose fer-menters and proteolytic anaerobes. The converse was also true; light infections were, in general, accompanied by a lesser number of aciduric organisms and a greater number of lactose fermenters and proteolytic anaerobes. Although high infections were accompanied by a very slightly more acid reaction of the cecal content, it is doubtful whether this finding has any significance. Large amounts of starch, both microscopic and macroscopic, were found in the cecum in pigs heavily infected. Heavy infections were accompanied by a diet high in carbohydrate in the form of grain. This was manifested by the nature of the intestinal flora and by the presence of undigested carbohydrate in the immediate environment of the parasite.