Diagnosis, Prognosis. 249 



exist between the acute gastro-intestiiial catarrh, the mycotic 

 and toxic enteritis, on one side, and rinderpest on the other. 



Tschudinow observed an aflfection in cattle after feeding swill heated to a 

 temperature of 53-54°, which consisted in fever of 40-42°, difficult respiration, red 

 spots on the buccal mucous membrane, catarrh of the conjunctivae, scanty hair, 

 mucous discharge from the nose, and a bloody mucous diarrhea. The autopsy 

 revealed in one case hyperemia, and hemorrhages in the mucous membrane of the 

 rumen and of the intestinal canal. 



2. Malignant catarrhal fever of cattle, with which rinder- 

 pest has been frequently confounded. This disease reseml)]es 

 rinderpest inasmuch as it also runs a severe course, and as 

 all mucous membranes may become affected. However the 

 most severe changes are found in the mucous membranes of 

 the eyes, nose and sinuses of the head, while the digestive tract 

 and the genital organs are usually only slightly affected. The 

 head feels warm to the touch, the horns sometimes fall off, the 

 depression of the animals is pronounced from the onset of the 

 disease. Besides cloudiness of the cornea, a fibrinous iritis may 

 also develop, and it should be taken into consideration that the 

 disease is not contagious and usually occurs only sporadically. 



3. Foot-and-mouth disease can only be mistaken for rinder- 

 pest when the ulcerations in the mouth extend to the deeper 

 parts, and when the ulcerations later become covered with tissue 

 detritus and coagulated exudate ; further when high fever and 

 indications of enteritis can be associated with the disease. In 

 foot-and-mouth disease however the ulcerations develop at the 

 site of the vesicles ; the nose and the eyes are not affected, while 

 frequently inflammatory changes are present in the interdigital 

 spaces; furthermore foot-and-mouth disease spreads more 

 rapidly through the affected herds than rinderpest. 



4. Piroplasmosis may cause suspicion of rinderpest, 

 especially on autopsy, in cases where the mucous membrane 

 of the abomasum and of the small intestines contain ulcerations, 

 and even patch-like deposits. Normal appearance of the mucous 

 membrane of the mouth, air passages and genitals, the presence 

 of hemoglobin in the urine, acute swelling of the spleen, 

 yellowish discoloration of the subperitoneal fat, as well as an 

 enzootic character of the outbreak, afford sufficient grounds 

 for excluding rinderpest. However the establishment of the 

 piroplasmosis, or the presence of piroplasma in the blood does 

 not exclude the simultaneous presence of rinderpest, as mixed 

 infections of this kind occur quite frequently (see pp. 248 and 

 255 ; according to Arloing & Ball the swollen lymph glands are 

 free from hemorrhages only when piroplasmosis exists in asso- 

 ciation with rinderpest). A demonstration of trypanosomes in 

 the blood also has no importance from the standpoint of a 

 differential diagnosis. 



Prognosis. The termination of the disease depends in the 

 first place on the character of the outbreak, and on the breed 



