82 HORSE, SWINE AND POULTRY DISEASES 



animal, will hasten the termination of the disease. On the other 

 hand, good care and abundant food will prolong life, and in this 

 country has even resulted in recovery. It is also possible under 

 favorable conditions that an animal may have dourine in the latent 

 form for several years without manifesting any alarming symptoms 

 and yet be a source of danger. 



Prognosis. Although now and then a case of dourine may re- 

 cover, as a rule the disease is present merely in a latent state, and 

 the excitement caused by copulation is very likely to cause it to re- 

 appear with renewed vigor. The outlook, therefore, from a prog- 

 nostic point is always to be considered unfavorable, and in a coun- 

 try where a relatively small number of cases appear temporizing 

 methods of suppressing the disease are not warranted. 



Diagnosis. In countries where dourine is the only infection 

 caused by trypanosomes, the diagnosis is made certain by the dem- 

 onstration of these parasites ; but this is connected with considerable 

 difficulty, as the parasites in the blood appear very seldom and then 

 only in small numbers. They are most constant in the serous fluid 

 of the cutaneous plaques and in the edematous swellings and muco- 

 purulent discharges of the vagina, but even here they appear only 

 periodically. While it is a comparatively easy task to diagnose the 

 disease in its acute form if ulcers are present on the genitals and 

 edematous patches on the skin, those cases which have apparently 

 recovered, or which may more properly be termed chronic, present 

 many difficulties. The diagnosis is much easier if several animals 

 are affected at the same time. 



Treatment. Little benefit can be obtained from the medicinal 

 treatment of this chronic malady, nor is such treatment desirable in 

 this country, where the disease has existed only in restricted areas 

 and where sanitary considerations demand its prompt extirpation. 

 Some cases, however, have been observed where improvement and 

 recovery followed local treatment when applied in the early stages 

 of the infection. When, however, any systematic symptoms appear, 

 drugs seem to be useless and deaths follow after very varying periods 

 of time in different cases. 



As the infection takes place through the genital apparatus, the 

 thorough application to these parts of antiseptic solutions with the 

 idea of destroying the trypanosomes before they obtain access to 

 the general circulation may be looked upon as the most rational 

 treatment. This, although practicable in the male, is extremely 

 difficult to accomplish thoroughly in the female. Toward this end 

 corrosive sublimate, 1 to 2,000, or 2 per cent solution of carbolic 

 acid or creolin, should be injected into the vagina of the mare and 

 the sheath and penis of the stallion immediately upon the first ap- 

 pearance of inflammation of the genitals following the act of coition 

 in infected localities, or where for any reason the presence of the 

 disease is to be suspected. 



After the systemic symptoms of urticarial eruption and paresis 

 with rapid loss of flesh in spite of a good appetite begin to appear, 

 the symptomatic treatment with stimulants and alteratives has been 



