414 Malignant Catari'lial Fever of Cattle. 



in quite a luiiforni development in the respiratory and digestive appa- 

 ratus ; sometimes however the respiratory organs are only slightly af- 

 fected iu spite of the severe affection of the digestive tract (intestinal 

 form). 



According to Isepponi the disease occasionally shows an atypical 

 course, inasmuch as in the presence of a high fever, but almost normal 

 respiration and heart action, the patients suddenly pass thin, fetid, 

 sometimes also l)loody feces, whereupon death ensues in 2 to 3 days. 

 The cornea in such cases is not clouded. 



Lucet also described a form of the disease in which a catarrhal 

 croupous pleuro-pneumonia becomes associated with the inflammation 

 of the upper air passages after a short time. According to his observa- 

 tions, in this always very rapid type of the disease the affection of the 

 eyes is only slightly pronounced, and especially on the cornea hardly 

 any changes are noticeable. He considers the croupous inflammation 

 of the pharynx, larynx, bronchi, and of the lungs as different forms of 

 a special disease, the diphtheria of cattle ( ?). 



Lichtenheld reports on a malignant catarrh of cattle in German 

 East Africa, which with otherwise similar symptoms is differentiated 

 from the catarrhal fever occurring in Europe, by its epizootic form, 

 with losses up to 75%, further by the marked predominance of the 

 affection of the intestines, and the usually hemorrhagic character of the 

 mucous membranes. 



Course and Prognosis. The disease runs with few excep- 

 tions an acute course. The clinical picture is usually fully 

 developed in 3 to 4 days, and death follows in 4 to 12 days. 

 In some of the cases the symptoms diminish after the disease 

 has rapidly developed, and the animals commence to eat, al- 

 though they still have fever and continue to emaciate; a little 

 later the condition again becomes aggravated, and the animals 

 finally die in 2 to 3 weeks. 



The prognosis is quite unfavorable, as the mortality varies 

 between 50-90%. Severe nervous sjniptoms and a great exten- 

 sion of the inflammatory process should be considered as un- 

 favorable indications. The body temperature deserves special 

 attention, as from the third day on a new rise (indication of 

 an associating pneumonia or septic infection), or as a rapid 

 drop have a very unfavorable significance. 



In the case of a favorable termination the local changes 

 are not so marked, and the necrotic processes are either absent, 

 or they do not penetrate deeply. After a certain time lachryma- 

 tion ceases, the nasal discharge becomes again mucous, and 

 loses its fetid odor, the respiration is no longer rattling, the 

 appetite and rumination return, and the animals become 

 brighter, while the temperature gradually returns to normal. 



Recovery, which is usually preceded by a convalescence 

 lasting for several weeks, is rarely complete, as the animal 

 frequently remains blind in one or both eyes, or a chronic 

 catarrh of the nose and its sinuses, and sometimes lasting 

 digestive disturbances remain. 



Diagnosis. Besides the rapid development of the clinical 



