208 COMMON AILMENTS OF CATTLE 



peels off, leaving a raw surface. The skin between the toes may 

 at times become inflamed. The absence of vesicles on the udder 

 and teats as well as other parts of the body together with the 

 slowness in which the infection spreads in a herd aids in dif- 

 ferentiating this affection from foot and mouth disease. Mycotic 

 stomatitis appears usually in late summer or early fall and 

 attacks from ten to fifty per cent of the animals in a herd. 



Foul Foot, (Foot Rot). — Foul foot is not an infectious 

 disease, but during warm wet seasons a number of cattle may 

 become affected in a certain district, giving rise to the sus- 

 picion on the part of some that it may be a disease of a con- 

 tagious nature. Foul foot, as the name implies, is a disease 

 of the feet only and the cause may be easily traced to filthy 

 stalls and badly drained grounds. 



Prevention of Foot and Mouth Disease. — The highly infec- 

 tious nature of the disease and the easy manner of its dissemina- 

 tion require that rigid preventive measures be adopted to prevent 

 its spread. Healthy cattle should be guarded carefully so as to 

 prevent them being exposed to the infection. In a community 

 where an outbreak occurs owners should exercise every pre- 

 caution in preventing other animals, such as dogs, cats, and 

 poultry, from coming in contact with the diseased animals, 

 as they furnish excellent means for disseminating the causative 

 factor. The carcasses of affected animals must be destroyed, 

 preferably by burning or by burying them in a hole eight or ten 

 feet deep and covering them with air-slaked lime, so as to 

 prevent earthworms and similar agents from carrying the virus 

 to the surface. Infected stables should be thoroughly disin- 

 fected with one of the following disinfectants: (1) a five per 

 cent solution of pure carbolic acid. (2) Chloride of lime, U. 

 S. P., one pound to three gallons of water. (3) Formaldehyde, 

 one quart forty per cent solution to five gallons of water. (4) 

 The application of lime wash to which is added chloride of lime 

 in the ratio of six ounces of chloride of lime to each gallon of 

 the lime wash is quite efficient. 



All stable utensils must be thoroughly cleansed and disin- 

 fected with any of the above-named antiseptics. All manure 

 should be burned or disinfected. The stables should not be 



