Hemorrhagic Septicemia 115 



tolerated in a community. The carcasses should either be deeply buried 

 or bu/rned, and if moved from where they die they should not be dr!agg'3'/ 

 over the ground as such tends to spread the disease. 



The disease is more likely to occur in feeders that have had an 

 entire change of ccrdition as fef*cl, water, and shelter. Ofittle that 

 have been in stock cars and yards also come in contact with the contagion. 

 Again young cattle are more often purchased and it seems to effect 

 cattle under three years more often than the mature cattle. However 

 in one outbreak in 1919 a mature cow in fair flesh became a victim of 

 the disease and died. 



The shipping of cattle does not account for all outbreaks. I have 

 come in contact with effected herds that have had no cattle brought into 

 them that took the disease and losses occurred. 



I have about formed tlie conclusion that this disease germ is in the 

 air the same as pneumonia and the weakened animals take the disease 

 while more thrifty animals are more able to resist it. 



Most veterinarians hold that September to December are the most 

 favorable months of the year for this disease, and many betieve the so 

 called corn stalk disease is really hemorrhagic septicemia, rathejr than 

 corn stalk or forage poisoning. The outbreak in St. Clair County, Mis- 

 souri, came in the late spring months of 1919. 



The germs are supposed to gain entrance into the animal's body by 

 the way of the organs of breathing, the digestive tract or wounds. 



SYMPTOMS 



Three forms of this disease are recognized. 



1 The form of localizing itself in the lungs and air pasages. 



H The intestinal form. 



HI The skin form. 



The last form I have never observed but the first and second foTm 

 are quite frequent in all classes of farm animals. 



It is not infrequent to find the lung and intestinal form in the same 

 animal at the same time. As I have observed this disease the animal 

 usually dies within twenty-four hours after serious symptoms develop, 

 however, Friedberger and Frohner stale that the animal may live as 

 long as five days. Less than ten per cent of the effected animals that 

 deJvelop serious symptoms recover. 



In the outbreaks which I have observed, quite a number of the ani- 

 mals in the herd develop a dry short cough, as though they had taken a 



