782 East African Coast Fever. 



Tropical Piroplasmosis of Cattle. Dscliunkovsky & Luhs observed 

 in southern Russia a disease of cattle resembling coast fever, in which 

 in the acute cases, up to 80-96% of the red blood corpuscles contained 

 a ring and punctiform, also a rod-shaped piroplasnia, which could not 

 be reproduced artificially by inoculations of blood containing the para- 

 site, (up to several liters were injected subcutaneously, intrtiperi- 

 toneally, or intravenously). On the other hand, according to more re- 

 cent experiments, larvae of females of the Boophilus decoloratus, which 

 later suck the blood of infected cattle caused, alter 10-15 days, a fever 

 lasting for several days, mostly however without any parasites in the 

 blood. The symptoms were fever up to 40° -41° C, at intervals of 8-12 

 days, then continuous at 40°-42° C., symptoms of nervous irritation, 

 sometimes with attacks on persons, accelerated heart's action and res- 

 piration, general icterus and pronounced emaciation, frecpiently bloody 

 diarrhea, and shortly' before death sphincter paralysis. The urine was 

 only rarely reddish-yellow, the number of erythrocytes diminished to 

 as few as 800,000 per cul3ic millimeter. — The autopsy revealed large 

 hemorrhages in all organs, ulcerations corresponding to the hemorrhages, 

 in the abomasum and small intestines, and acute swelling of the spleen. 

 The disease also runs a more chronic cachectic form when only 10-40% 

 of the erythrocytes contain the parasite, and on autopsy striped and 

 variegated lesions of the mucous membrane of the abomasum are found 

 with an ocher-yellow or dark base. (Cbl. f. Bakt., 1904. XXXV. 486.). 



A similar disease was observed by Kowalewsky in Taschkend, only 

 it ran a more rapid course, and in some cases grayish-yellow deposits 

 developed on the mucous membrane of the lips and cheeks, and also on 

 the tongues. (J. vet., 1907. 330.) 



Further it appears that the disease observed by Penning in Java 

 is identical with the above. There it attacks buffaloes, and a transmis- 

 sion to sheep with larvae of the Boophilus australis was successful. (Tier- 

 arztl. Bl. f. Niederl.-Indien, 1906. XVIII. 102.) 



Pseudo-Coast Fever. Lichtenfeld designates by this name a dis- 

 ease of African cattle wlycli manifests itself with fever up to 41° C, 

 emaciation, diminished appetite, and which 

 sometimes causes death. The blood appears 

 watery, and up to 10% of the erythrocytes 

 contain a small rod or ring-shaped parasite 

 resembling closely the Piroplasma parvum, 

 which had been found previously in sparing 

 numbers, by Theiler in the blood of cattle, 

 usually simultaneously with the Piroplasma 

 bigeminum, and described as Piroplasma 

 mutans. (Fig. 135.) After the inoculation 

 of such blood the piroplasma appears after 

 an incubation of 10-25 days in the blood 

 circulation of the inoculated animal, and 

 produces anemia with poikilocytosis, but 

 Fi,'. 135. Piroplasma mutanti. never hemoglobinuria. The natural mode 

 (After Theiler. ) ^f infection is still Unknown. 



Theiler formerly considered the parasite as an immune form of the Piro- 

 plasma bigeminum, while Koch was of the opinion that such cases were mi.xed 

 infections of coast fever and Texas fever. Eecently, however, Theiler showed that 



