Black Leg 117 



purchasing stock cattle will do wejl, especially during the fall months 

 to have them immuned to this disease before they are shipped. 



There is a bacteirin for hemorrhagic septicemia which is very suc- 

 cessful in keeping unaffected animals from taking the disease. As a 

 preventative or to immune well animals a 2 mil. (2 cubic centimeter) 

 or approximately (two-fiflhs of a leaspoonful) of the bacterin is injected 

 with a hypodermic syringe under the loose skin of the neck in matu^re 

 cattle. A very convenient syringe for this purpose is shown on page 17, 

 fig. (4. For effected animals a dose should be given every 48 hours till 

 recovery and where the herd is in a weakened condition, the well animals 

 shiculd receive a second dose after 5 days. 



This immunity apparently lasts for eight or nine months. These 

 bacterins are for sale by drug houses listed in the last pages of this 

 book or may be pUrchased from Bioloigical houses as Parker Davis 

 through the local druggist. 



BLACK LEG 



{Quarter III) 



This is the most prevalent of all diseases in young cattle. It oc- 

 curs in all parts o,f the United States, but is more frequently met with 

 west of the Mississippi river and east of the Rocky mountains. Upon 

 some farms, vaccination must be done every year to prevent the disease, 

 while on adjoining farms black-leg has never been known. My ex- 

 perience has been that the disease is more prevalent in March, April, 

 May, September, October, and November, but some writers give June, 

 July and August as the months the disease is most prevalent. 



Tihe disease is caused by a gejm which can be found in the passages 

 of diseased animals, soil and water. 



Tliis germ (bacteria) is very hard to kill, since it goes into a spore 

 or shell stage and resists disinfectants. 



In the shell stage, it will live several years if unmolested which ac- 

 counts for the appearance of the disease year after year on many farms. 



It requires 1 pint of carboic acid to 1 gallon of water to kill the 

 germs of this disease, 1-5000 of corrosive sublimate will effectively kill 

 the germs of the disease. 



Nearly every writer classes this as a non-contagious disease. That 

 is to say, a healthy animal will not take the disease from a sick one. 

 It is assumed to be an infectious disease. That is, the germ enters the 

 body through cuts and abrasions of the skin, hollow tooth cavities, etc. 



