COMMUNICABLE DISEASES 249 



fine results as a prophylactic, but are less beneficial after the sympr 

 toms have become well marked. 



NAVEL ILL 



Navel infection results in an acute, infectious disease that is 

 technically known as pyemic arthritis. It is characterized by 

 purulent inflammation of the joints. 



The cause appears to be an organism of the colon-typhoid group 

 which is carried by the blood-stream from the navel, where the 

 infection takes place, to the joints, lungs, and liver. There is 

 good reason to believe that this same organism may cause con- 

 tagious equine abortion. 



The symptoms appear twenty-four to forty-eight hours after 

 infection has occurred. The foal refuses to suck and has a fever. 

 The joints become hot and swollen, and the young animal moves 

 with difficulty or lies stretched out flat on its side. There may 

 be no signs of inflammation at the navel; in other cases consider- 

 able pus can be squeezed out of it. 



A mortality averaging 50 per cent, is to be expected. Often 

 death occurs in three or four days. In chronic cases the foal may 

 live a miserable existence for three or four months. If the dis- 

 ease does not appear until the animal is several weeks old the 

 chances of recovery are better. 



Prevention is of more importance than treatment. It can be 

 accomplished by disinfecting the navel immediately after the navel 

 cord breaks, and twice a day afterward until it dries up, drops off, 

 and no raw spot remains. A shallow, wide-mouthed bottle should 

 be nearly filled with a 1 : 500 solution of corrosive sublimate or 

 tincture of iodin and the navel stump immersed in it. To keep 

 the disinfectant from blistering the foal's belly, smear vaselin 

 on the skin around the navel before applying the solution. 



Death may often be averted by opening and disinfecting the 



affected joints, but there is a decided probability that the joints 



will be stiff. Stimulants to sustain the heart and medicine to 



control digestive disorders, frequent complications, must be 



provided. 



TUBERCULOSIS 



Tuberculosis is a communicable, infectious disease character- 

 ized by the formation in the internal organs of very small nodules 

 or tubercles that have a tendency to undergo caseation. 



