248 Rinderpest. 



exceptional cases also among cattle of the Western European 

 breeds (Dieckerhoff; according to Stockman the disease some- 

 times may run a very chronic course in the presence of mild 

 symptoms). 



In Turkey, Russia and Africa animals frequently become affected 

 which have previously been infected with the parasites of infectious 

 hemoglobinuria, or coast fever. In such animals rinderpest runs the 

 usual course, but at the same time the piroplasma which were present 

 prior to the infection with rinderpest only in unimportant numbers 

 in the blood increase very rapidly (Nicolle & Adil-Bey, Kowalewsky, 

 Theiler, Koch). Latent cases of trypanosomiasis are likewise influenced 

 by rinderpest (Holmes, Woolley). 



Rinderpest as a plague does not spread very' rapidly in 

 large herds. After placing an affected animal in a stall, usually 

 after 1-2 weeks the animals in close proximity first become 

 affected, whereupon however the disease attacks the other 

 animals with a greater rapidity in a similar way. According 

 to Haupt it requires from 5-6 weeks for the disease to affect 

 all the animals in a herd of 15-20 head. 



Diagnosis. The sudden appearance and the rapid develop- 

 ment of the symptoms, among which the characteristic affection 

 of several mucous membranes is of great importance, aid in 

 the recognition of the disease. In establishing a diagnosis 

 careful data on the history, first on the possibility of an intro- 

 duction of the infection as well as the mode of spreading in 

 the affected herd, must be carefully considered, because of the 

 far-reaching consequences which may follow the presence of 

 the disease. The diagnosis is formed with difficulty, in the 

 beginning of an outbreak, especially if the disease affects the 

 first animals in an unusually mild form, but a sudden rise in 

 the temperature is sufficient to justify a suspicion of the pres- 

 ence of rinderpest. 



From the standpoint of differential diagnosis the follow- 

 ing diseases are principally to be considered : 



1. Coccidiosis (red scour). The resemblance consists in 

 the fact that in this disease there is also a febrile diarrhea 

 and rapid loss of strength; further autopsy may reveal necrosis 

 of the epithelium and even of the deeper layers of the gastric 

 and intestinal mucous membrane. It is distinguished from 

 rinderpest in that the digestive disturbances precede the febrile 

 rise in temperature, further the excrements retain their original 

 color for a longer period, but may become mixed with blood 

 even at the beginning of the disease. The affection remains 

 exclusively confined to the gastro-intestinal canal, and in older 

 animals the affection of the rectum is especially marked; 

 whereas the mucous membranes of the head, and of the eyes, 

 remain normal. Further the disease is not contagious, and 

 cannot be transmitted, even bv inoculation. Similar differences 



