Purulent Infeciio7i of the Navel 1007 



It is thus a common clinical observation that purulent infec- 

 tion of the navel is greatly favored by the process of ligation, 

 and the more improperly ligated the greater the danger. Ad- 

 mittedly a navel cord may be safely ligated. If the cord is di- 

 vided at the proper point, the Whartonian gelatine thoroughly 

 pressed out and the stump ligated under perfect aseptic precau- 

 tions, followed by the application of an aseptic covering, and its 

 retention in position and in an aseptic state (a very difficult task 

 with domestic animals), the operation is safe. 



Another method by which infection apparently takes place is 

 through the medium of flies, which are attracted to the cord 

 while it is yet moist after birth. These filth carriers, having 

 previously been in contact with infected wounds or putrid organic 

 matter, carry the infection to the navel. Foals born during fly 

 time very frequently suffer from navel infection. 



Symptoms. Navel infection occurs within a few hours after 

 birth, and the danger is eliminated as soon as the cord is thor- 

 oughly dessicated. Consequently, the danger period is during 

 the first 12 to 24 hours after birth. The symptoms usually fol- 

 low very promptly after this period, although in the initial 

 stages of the disease, the malady may be overlooked or unrecog- 

 nized by the owner or attendant. First there usually occur the 

 general symptoms of local infection, modified by the peculiar 

 structure of the navel. In the foal. Fig. 90 B, page 559, there 

 is an extension of a hairless skin from the umbilicus, to con- 

 stitute the cutaneous portion of the cord, beyond which the 

 cord is somewhat smaller, softer, more fragile, and covered with 

 the amnion. It is just beyond this cutaneous area of the cord 

 that it normally ruptures. 



When the umbilicus becomes inflamed, this projection of hair- 

 less skin becomes intensely reddened, tense and glistening. 

 Further examination will reveal the fact that, instead of the part 

 having dessicated normally, there exudes from near the center 

 of the cord a dirty, thin, watery, flocculent serosity, which may 

 be grayish-w^hite or tinged with blood. If the part is carefully 

 examined with a fine probe, it will usually be found possible to 

 pass the instrument upward and forward for a variable distance 

 toward the liver along the cour.se of the umbilic vein. If the 

 infection has extended along the vein in its course through the 

 peritoneal cavity, the probe can probably be passed for a distance 



