DISEASES OF SHEEP 515 



In whatever part of the animal body the Bacillus necrophorus 

 may have instituted the inflammation which characterizes its pres- 

 ence, by whatever name the disease process may be called, be it foot 

 rot, necrotic quittor, necrotic scratches, necrotic vaginitis or metritis, 

 or necrotic stomatitis, there we find a hotbed of infection. Hence, 

 the occupancy of the calving stall by a cow affected with foot rot or 

 by a cow suffering with a vaginitis dependent upon this bacillus is 

 sufficient to insure the development of cases of necrobacillosis. The 

 same principle is involved in the dissemination of the disease through 

 one or more litters of pigs. The very first investigator in this line 

 made the experiment of placing a healthy calf in a stall with two 

 calves affected with sore mouth. The third calf came down in five 

 days with the same malady. The author considered the calves' habit 

 of licking one another as being chargeable with the transmission of 

 the disease. 



Necrosis bacilli obtained from lesions of lip-and-leg ulceration 

 will produce similar ulcers in hogs, horses, calves, and chickens which 

 have been artificially infected by them. Moreover, cultures of the 

 necrosis bacillus from warty lips of lambs produced ulcers on the 

 penis of bucks, vulva of ewes, lips of old ewes, and between the claws 

 of adult sheep. On the other hand, cultures from foot rot of sheep 

 and from the testicle of a buck produced lesions on the lips and nos- 

 trils of lambs, while bacilli recovered from the liver of a cow caused 

 ulcerations on the lips and mouth of an adult sheep. This transmis- 

 sion of the Bacillus necrophorus from one species of animal to another 

 occurs under natural conditions. 



On account of the possibility of the wide dissemination of this 

 disease, the loss in condition of the affected animals, the stunting of 

 growth or "setting" of the lambs, and the cost, time, and labor of 

 treating the disease in an affected band, it is evident that the impor- 

 tance of the infection has not been overestimated. Fortunately, if 

 taken in time, the disease in the vast majority of cases responds read- 

 ily to treatment, the principal requisite being vigilance on the part 

 of the herder to cut out as soon as they occur all cases of the infection, 

 which should be placed in the hospital band for hand treatment. 



Flock masters who have experienced an active attack of this 

 disease in their lambs realize its importance and the necessity 

 for drastic measures in holding the disease in check. Other owners, 

 whose sheep have had only a mild attack, scout the seriousness of the 

 disease but may yet learn of its devastating tendency under unfavor- 

 able conditions. It is evident that sheep are affected but mildly 

 under favorable climatic conditions and with abundant nutritious 

 feed. When thus affected the animal may quickly and even spon- 

 taneously recover. But in fall and winter, when bad weather and 

 poor feed tend to lower the powers of resistance, the disease quickly 

 makes great headway with a greater relative virulence, and in conse- 

 quence a certain number of animals become so badly affected that no 

 hope of cure at a reasonable cost or in a reasonable time may be 

 entertained. 



