SECTION IV. THE GENITAL INFECTIONS OF HORSES 



CHAPTER XXI 

 THE SPECIFIC VENEREAL DISEASES 



A. Dourine 

 Maladie Du Coit. Beschalseuche 



Bibliography. Baldrey, Jour. Comp. Path, and Therap., 1905, Vol. 18, p. 7. de Does, 

 Jahresbericht, 1902. Hutyra und Marek, Spezielle Pathologie und Therapie. Mohler, 

 Eichhorn and Buck, The Diagnosis of Dourine by Complement-Fixation, Jour. Ag. Re- 

 search, Vol. I, No. 2, Nov. 10, 1913. Thanhoffer, Ueber Zuchtlahme. W. L. Williams, Report 

 Illinois State Board of Live Stock Commissioners, 1887. 



Dourine of the horse is the most serious specific venereal 

 disease known among domestic animals, on account of its 

 wide geographical distribution and the mortality and loss 

 caused by it. It is, or has been, widely disseminated in Eu- 

 rope, Asia, Africa and North America. It has been recog- 

 nized for more than a century and has appeared in all the 

 leading countries on the European continent. In English- 

 speaking countries it was first recognized by the author at 

 Wapella in DeWitt County, Illinois, in the spring of 1886, 

 among imported French draft stallions and the mares which 

 had been served by them. The disease in Illinois apparently 

 broke out in 1884 or 1885, but its nature was not determined 

 until 1886, and even then its seriousness was not fully ap- 

 preciated. It was not until 1887 that vigorous measures 

 were undertaken for its control and eradication. In the 

 meantime, numerous animals had been sold from the infected 

 area and widely disseminated over the country in a manner 

 which made it impracticable to trace them effectively to 

 their ultimate destination. When the importance of the 

 malady became recognized, it was promptly placed under 

 control in its original center and was so completely eradi- 

 cated that up to the present time, a period of thirty-five 

 years, it has not reappeared in that territory. 



Since that time the affection has been recognized in Neb- 

 raska, South Dakota, and the province of Alberta, Canada. 



