Avian febrile response.

The febrile response of the pigeon (Columba livia) was characterized for comparison with our present day understnading of mammalian fever. 2. When injected with live Pasteurella multocida the birds became febrile and died. 3. Varying doses of dead bacteria produced a complex dose-dependent febrile response. 4. Antipyretics effectively attenuated the febrile response to dead bacteria. 5. The similarities of reptilian, avian and mammalian fever suggest a common origin and perhaps a similar adaptive role of fever in increasing host survival during bacterial infection.