330 DAIRY CATTLE AND MILK PRODUCTION 



The spread of the disease is probably due in most cases 

 to infection from the male. If one infected cow is brought 

 into a herd, she may contaminate the male, who in turn in- 

 fects the other cows. It is also considered possible for the 

 infection to gain entrance to the genital tract by close con- 

 tact with infected cows, such as lying upon soiled bedding, 

 or by the infected excretions being carried from one animal 

 to another by the nose of a third. 



Prevention and Treatment. Every precaution should 

 be taken to prevent the introduction of the disease into 

 the herd. In buying an aged bull or pregnant cows, the 

 greatest care should be exercised to make certain the dis- 

 ease is not prevalent in the herd from which the animals are 

 brought. There is no means of judging from an examina- 

 tion of the animals whether they carry the disease or not. 



If an abortion occurs, the fetus and afterbirth should be 

 burned or buried. The aborting animal should be isolated, 

 and the stall where she stood disinfected with a 5 per cent 

 solution of carbolic acid. The uterus of the animal that has 

 aborted should be washed out with two gallons or more of 

 a disinfectant solution, such as a 2 per cent solution of creo- 

 lin or a permanganate of potash solution made by dissolving 

 a teaspoonful in 3 gallons of water. This is done by insert- 

 ing one end of a piece of rubber hose into the womb, in the 

 outer end of which is placed a funnel. The solution is 

 poured into the funnel at about blood heat. The tail, vulva, 

 and rear parts of the animal are also washed with the dis- 

 infectant. The washing should be repeated in two or three 

 days, and thereafter once per week as long as any discharge 

 appears. 



It is recommended that two bulls be kept in an aborting 



