116 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



ing off in the milk yield, reddening of 

 the mucous membranes, persistent diar- 

 rhea and coughing. After death in- 

 flamed patches and ulcers are found in 

 the digestive organs. No satisfactory 

 treatment for this disease is known, hut 

 a preventive inoculation has been used 

 with fine results. This may be effected 

 by means of pure bile from an animal 

 which has recovered, by the use of bile 

 followed by virulent blood, or by the 

 simultaneous inoculation of serum and 

 virulent blood. 



Foot and mouth disease, also known 

 as aphthous fever, occurs throughout 

 Europe and other foreign countries. 

 Strict quarantine measures, however, 

 prevented the introduction of the dis- 

 ease into this country until 1903, when 

 a serious outbreak occurred in New 

 England. The Bureau of Animal In- 

 dustry, in connection with state veter- 

 inary authorities, at once began the 

 campaign of quarantine and eradica- 

 tion and carried it out with complete 

 success. The method consisted in kill- 

 ing and burying or burning all diseased 

 animals, for which an indemnity was 

 paid to the owners. Foot and mouth 

 disease is highly infectious, the virus 

 being found in eruptions, on the mouth 

 and on the feet, as well as in the milk. 

 It is most prevalent in cattle and hogs, 





jz££2££LJ£L&. 



Fig. 63 INCREASED SALIVATION IN 



FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE 



but also affects goats, sheep and more 

 rarely other farm animals, as well as 

 man. The chief symptoms are high 

 fever, loss of appetite, slobbering, erup- 

 tion of yellowish blisters in the mouth 

 and on the tongue .and lips as well as 

 on the feet and udder. The blisters 

 burst and a stringy discharge takes 

 place. Ordinarily, cattle recover within 

 10 to 20 days, unless complications 



occur. The milk of affected cows is 

 very dangerous for children or for calves 

 and pigs. On account of the rapid- 

 ity with which the disease spreads, it 

 is best to destroy all affected animals at 

 once. A method of preventive vaccina- 

 tion has been devised, but the immunity 

 thus produced is of short duration. 

 Certain Italian investigators claim to 

 have had good results from intravenous 

 injections of corrosive sublimate, but 

 this needs confirmation. 



Fig. 64 FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE 



AFFECTING THE UDDER 



Hemorrhagic septicemia i s a highly 

 fatal and infectious disease, due to the 

 presence of a specific micro-organism. 

 The disease occurs in various foreign 

 countries aud prevails to some extent in 

 certain parts of the United States. It 

 is often confused with corn stalk dis- 

 ease or anthrax. In the cutaneous form 

 of the disease, the tongue, throat, dew- 

 lap and lower part of the legs swell, the 

 appetite is lost and the milk secretion 

 stops. There is a high temperature and 

 difficulty in swallowing. The discharge 

 from the nostrils may be bloody. In 

 the pulmonary form of the disease the 

 symptoms are those of croupous pneu- 

 monia and bloody urine is observed, to- 

 gether with diarrhea. After death red 

 spots are observed underneath the skin 

 and in various internal organs. There 

 is no satisfactory treatment for the dis- 

 ease and the only thing to be recom- 

 mended at present is the immediate 

 destruction and burying of affected ani- 

 mals, 



