CHRONIC CATARRH OF CATTLE. 



Catarrh, chronic, summer aggravation, thickened, roughened, mucosa, 

 discharge, twigs in nose. Question of parasitism. Treatment, remove 

 causes, antiseptic astringents. 



A remarkable form of chronic catarrh with summer aggrava- 

 tion exists in some of the hilly districts of New York but has not 

 received such study as to enable us to .state its true nature. 



One or two in a large herd will have a loud snuffling breathing, 

 which ma}^ subside so as to be entirely overlooked in winter, but 

 reappears when put to pasture in the spring and continues in a 

 marked form throughout the warm weather and until after the 

 animal is returned to winter quarters. There appears to be little 

 or no fever nor constitutional disturbance except what comes from 

 the obstructed breathing, and the yield of milk may be unchanged. 

 The symptoms would indicate a purely local disease. Yet so few 

 are attacked out of a herd that it cannot be actively contagious. 



On close examination the nasal chambers are found to be nar- 

 rowed, there is manifest thickening of the mucosa, and its sur- 

 face feels rough and uneven, with miliarv elevations. There is 

 of course more or less glairy discharge. If the examination is 

 made about midsummer, the finger introduced into the nose will 

 usually detect the ends of twigs that have been introduced into 

 the cavity and broken off. When withdrawn these may prove 

 individually from four to eight inches long, and some force may 

 be required to extract them. In winter these are often absent, 

 having been apparently dropped one by one. The absence of 

 these sources of irritation sufficiently accounts for the manifest 

 improvement during the colder months. In spite however of the 

 wdnter remissions the disease tends to a steady advance year 

 by year. While nothing definite is known of its pathology, the 

 occurrence of this disease in given localities, its manifestly local 

 natttre, and its persistence wdien once established would suggest 

 enquiry as to the possible exi.stence of parasitism, bacteridian or 

 otherwise. 



Until further discovery treatment can only be of a general na- 

 ture. Removal of the foreign bodies from the no.se, pasturage 

 where there is no brush to replace them, soiling when clean pas- 

 tures cannot be found, and the use of astringent and antiseptic 

 agents by insufflation or injection would be indicated. 

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