170 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



Whenever it becomes necessary to separate diseased and healthy 

 animals, it is especially imjiortant that different attendants and 

 utensils be provided for the two groups. 



GRANULAR VENEREAL DISEASE (INFECTIOUS GRANULAR 



VAGINITIS). 



The affection to which the foregoing names have been given is a 

 chronic, mild, and apparently contagious disease of cattle, character- 

 ized by an inflammatory condition of the mucous membrane of the 

 vagina and the development of nodules upon its surface. At the 

 present time the causative agent is said to be an encapsulated strep- 

 tococcus. 



This disease is very widely spread, but from an economic point of 

 view it does not appear to have great significance. Williams, who 

 investigated it, asserts that it is difficult to find a single herd in this 

 country which is free of this disease. He considers it of great im- 

 portance, claiming that granular vaginitis has a vital relation to 

 abortion. This view, however, is not substantiated by other investi- 

 gators, it being now generally accepted that the disease is only rarely 

 responsible for abortion, and further, that it exerts no apparent ill 

 effects on the health of the animal and that it has no effect on the 

 milk yield. 



Symptoins. — Natural infection may take place either by direct 

 contact of animals or at the time of service. Most of the cows in the 

 affected herd contract the disease, but the bulls are rarely or very 

 mildly affected. The inflamed condition of the membranes of the 

 vagina results in a catarrhal exudate, and this discharge, which soils 

 the external genitals and the tail, and the uneasiness and sometimes 

 the straining of the animal, are the first and most prominent symp- 

 toms observed. Upon examination, small, hard, grayish nodules can 

 be seen and felt upon the inflamed membranes. This acute stage 

 may last for three or four weeks, then it gradually subsides and 

 assumes the chronic form, only to flare up again as the animal comes 

 in heat. 



These nodules are sometimes found upon the membranes of the 

 uterus, and some investigators have argued from this fact that it 

 was responsible for abortion and sterility. Others, however, deny 

 this and point out that the bacillus of abortion can be demonstrated 

 in nearly every case. The importance of the disease is therefore in 

 dispute and the decision must be left to future investigation. 



Treatment. — The exaggerated importance which has been attached 

 to this disease resulted in the exploitation of the most varied kinds 

 of remedies for its treatment. It is true that with a protracted and 

 laborious treatment it is possible to effect cures in from one to three 

 months, but with our present knowledge of this disorder it is ad- 



