346 DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS, ETC. 



irregular or persistent, the feces being of the consistency of molasses 

 and passed frequently. In the meantime the hair becomes dry and 

 harsh and the animal falls off considerably in weight. The temper- 

 ature, however, remains about normal. The appetite does not seem 

 to be greatly impaired until the last few weeks of life, but neverthe- 

 less emaciation continues, the animal becomes more and more ane- 

 mic, great muscular weakness and exhaustion are manifested, and 

 death follows, apparently as the result of the persistent diarrhea and 

 great emaciation. The disease may continue for four or five weeks 

 or may last for a year or even longer before death intervenes. 



Lesions. The lesions observed on post-mortem are remarkably 

 slight and out of all proportion to the severity of the symptoms 

 manifested. The disease appears to start in the small intestines, espe- 

 cially in the lower portion, where the lesions are usually the most 

 marked, but it also involves the large intestines, including the rec- 

 tum. The mucous membrane may alone be affected, although 

 usually in the long-standing cases the submucosa is also invaded 

 and the entire intestinal wall is then much thicker than normal and 

 the tissue infiltrated with an inflammatory exudate. The mucous 

 membrane or inside lining membrane is markedly wrinkled or cor- 

 rugated, showing large coarse folds with more or less reddening or 

 hemorrhagic patches or spots on the summits of the ridges, especially 

 noticeable in the large intestines. The mesenteric lymph glands are 

 usually somewhat enlarged and appear watery on section. The other 

 organs do not appear to be affected except from the anemia present 

 in the later stages of the disease. 



Differential Diagnosis. The principal disease with which bac- 

 terial dysentery may be confused is tuberculosis, but the application 

 of the tuberculin test will readily diagnose the latter disease, while 

 no reaction will be noted in case the injected animal is suffering 

 with the former affection. The disease may also be mistaken for the 

 parasitic affections resulting from stomach worms (verminous gas- 

 tritis) and intestinal parasites, especially uncinariasis, but a micro- 

 scopic examination of the feces is necessary in order to establish defi- 

 nitely the diagnosis. 



Treatment. As with all other forms of infectious disease, it is 

 advisable to separate immediately the diseased and suspected cattle 

 from the healthy animals. The feces passed by the former animals 

 should be placed on cultivated soil where healthy cattle would not 

 be exposed to them, as the bacilli producing the disease are readily 

 found in such manure. The stalls, stables, and barnyards should 

 also be thoroughly disinfected, as has been described under Tubercu- 

 losis, in this chapter, special attention being given to those places 

 which have been soiled by feces. The administration of medicines 

 has thus far been quite unsatisfactory, although treatment should be 

 directed toward disinfecting the intestines with intestinal antisep- 

 tics, such as creolin in 2 teaspoon ful doses twice daily or tannopin in 

 1 dram doses twice daily, and strengthening the animal by^ the use 

 of stimulants such as strychnin in half-grain doses given twice daily 

 hypodermically. Salol, *ur^ent ; ne, or subnitratej)f_bismuth in a 



