92 SHEEP DISEASES. 



young animals, but its effect on weight and milk 

 or wool causes a great economic loss. 



It is a quarantinable disease, and as above stated 

 one should waste no time in notifying the proper 

 authorities of suspected cases. The failure to do 

 this in the 1914 outbreak resulted in the expendi- 

 ture of five million dollars by the Federal and vari- 

 ous state governments in combatting this disease 

 and a loss to the livestock industry from quaran- 

 tines and interference with the marketing of live- 

 stock, probably four times as great. Twenty-five 

 millions for neglect of this simple precaution! 



9. Tetanus. 



Lockjaw; trismus. 



Cause: The Bacillus tetani, an anaerobic or- 

 ganism. It is a slender, spore-forming germ and 

 has been called the * ' pin bacillus ' ' and the ' ' tennis 

 racket bacillus. " 



Symptoms: Being a wound-infection disease, it 

 usually appears among lambs after castration, 

 docking, ear marking, or in rare cases, from um- 

 bilical infection. There have been cases where 

 ewes have been infected after labor. 



In young lambs, about a day or so after infection, 

 they become dull, lose their appetite, and as the 

 disease progresses, assume a stiff "saw-buck" 

 attitude. The muscles in the neck become rigid, 

 which causes an inability to swallow, and subse- 

 quent bloating is noticeable. Sometimes a profuse 

 diarrhea occurs. Death occurs from suffocation. 



This disease is quite apt to run a subacute course 



