616 DISEASES OF CATTLE, SHEEP, GOATS, ETC. 



TREATMENT. 



In prevention lies the most important means of keeping the band 

 clean ; in treatment lies the only means of making a diseased band 

 healthy. Starting with a clean flock of sheep and wishing to intro- 

 duce new blood into the band, a quarantine of two weeks is advisable ; 

 then, if no case of the disease has made its appearance, it will be safe 

 to place the newly arrived sheep with the rest of the flock. A very 

 careful examination of all sheep, especially those intended for breed- 

 ing purposes, should be made, and in the event of finding any in- 

 fected sheep in the band these should be cut out, thrown into a hos- 

 pital band, and treated at once, keeping very close watch on the flock 

 for any new cases that may develop later. 



Prevention should therefore be carried out along three lines: 

 (1) Separation of the sick from the healthy animals; (2) close scru- 

 tiny of the sheep that have been exposed to infection by contact with 

 affected animals or premises, or otherwise; (3) complete disinfection 

 of all pens, corrals, and sheds, as the necrosis bacilli will retain their 

 virulence under favorable conditions in and around the sheepfold for 

 several years. The walls, racks, and troughs should be sprinkled with 

 a 5 per cent solution of sheep dip or other similar disinfectant. The 

 manure and a portion of the surface soil of the corral should be re- 

 moved and the ground sprinkled with the disinfectant solution. If 

 possible, the healthy sheep should be taken to new and uninfected 

 feed grounds and pastured on uninfected range. Experience has 

 shown that sound sheep may be safely pastured on land that has been 

 previously occupied by animals suffering from lip-and-leg ulceration 

 if a winter's frosts have been allowed to intervene. The germs of the 

 disease seem to be subdued effectively by this means, and pastures 

 which have become contaminated in one season may be considered 

 safe for their customary usage during the following season. How- 

 ever, the impossibility of changing range in many cases, in some not 

 even temporarily, makes quick eradication the more difficult. 



The treatment of these affections occasioned by the presence 

 of necrosis organisms, no matter how many varieties of the disease 

 may make their appearance, can be reduced to a few words, namely, 

 disinfection and cleanliness, or disinfection and prevention. While 

 selecting treatment for that portion of the flock in which the disease 

 has become actually established it should be remembered that the 

 principal requisite is to expose properly the affected surfaces in order 

 that the applied remedy may destroy the infectious matter which has 

 lodged upon them. The remedy which will accomplish this most 

 readily and at the same time without giving rise to harmful second- 

 ary conditions is evidently the one that should be given preference. 



Treatment of this disease by local antiseptics is very satisfactory 

 if begun in time and applied energetically. It should not be de- 

 ferred, as better results will be obtained by attacking the outbreak as 

 soon as discovered than can be expected if the disease is permitted 

 to spread among the band or penetrate deeper into the tissues of 

 the affected parts. 



