MYCOTIC STOMATITIS OF CATTLE. 545 



When the disease is well developed the general appearance of the 

 animal is one of great lassitude, and it either stands off by itself 

 with hind feet drawn under the body and its fore feet extended, or it 

 assumes a recumbent position. Owing to the inability to eat and to 

 the general systemic disturbance present, the animal loses flesh very 

 rapidly and becomes greatly emaciated in the latter stages of the dis- 

 ease. The temperature and pulse are somewhat increased, the former 

 2 or 3 degrees, the latter to from 75 to 90 beats per minute. The 

 fever is not lasting, and these symptoms are soon modified. The 

 animal has an anxious look, and in a few cases there is gastro-intes- 

 tinal irritation, the feces being thin, of a dark color, and of an 

 offensive odor. 



PROGNOSIS AND MORTALITY. 



Mycotic stomatitis is not a serious disease, and in uncomplicated 

 cases recoveries soon follow the removal of the cause and the appli- 

 cation of the indicated remedies. In such cases complete restoration 

 may take place within one week. In mild outbreaks a large percent- 

 age of the animals will recover without treatment, but that the dis- 

 ease is fatal is shown by the fact that animals which develop an 

 aggravated form of the affection succumb if not treated. In such 

 animals death occurs in 6 or 8 days, but the mortality in the serious 

 outbreaks thus far investigated has been less than 0.5 per cent. The 

 course of this disease is irregular and runs from 7 to 15 days, the 

 average case covering a period of about 10 days. 



DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS. 

 FOOT-AND-MOVTH DISEASE. 



In examining a case of mycotic stomatitis it is important not to 

 mistake it for foot-and-mouth disease, which has appeared in this 

 country on five occasions only, always near a seaport, and which 

 does not exist in the United States at the present time. This may be 

 easily accomplished by taking into consideration the fact that in the 

 contagious foot-and-mouth disease there is a rapid infection of the 

 entire herd, as well as of any hogs and sheep that may be on the 

 premises. It is also readily transmitted to neighboring herds by the 

 spread of the infection from diseased animals, but it never occurs 

 spontaneously. The characteristic lesion of foot-and-mouth disease 

 is the appearance of vesicles containing serous fluid in the mouth and 

 upon the udder, teats, heels, and coronarj' bands of the affected ani- 

 mals. Drooling is profuse, and there is a peculiar smacking sound 

 made by sucking the affected lips. 



Mycotic stomatitis occurs sporadically on widely separated farms, 

 affecting only a few animals in each herd, and the lesions produced 



16023°— 12 35 



