VESICULAR ERUPTION OF THE GENITAL OEGANS. 399 



observed as for anthrax and other highly infectious diseases. All 

 the premises, barns, stalls, litter, and stable utensils should be 

 thoroughly disinfected. Separate the apparently well animals from 

 the sick by placing them in a separate lot. 



Experiments by the Bureau of Animal Industry toward protective 

 inoculation of the exposed cattle on infected premises have been made 

 and the results have been so satisfactory that commercial houses 

 handling biological products are now manufacturing a vaccine for 

 hemorrhagic septicemia in accordance M'ith the Government's ex]:)eri- 

 ments on this subject. The method of preparing the vaccine is simi- 

 lar to that recommended by Lignieres. It consists in growing the 

 cultures of the organism of the disease at 12 to 43° C. and preparing 

 from them growing at this temperature two different strengths of 

 vaccine. The weaker vaccine, which is used for the first injection, 

 is grown for five days at this temperature, whereas the stronger 

 vaccine, for the second injection, is grown for only two days. These 

 vaccines are used with an interval of 10 days between the injections, 

 the dose being 1 cubic centimeter at each injection. The effect of 

 this vaccine in abating outbreaks already in progress has been highly 

 satisfactory and it is plain that the general introduction of preventive 

 vaccination for hemorrhagic septicemia must be of material benefit 

 to the cattle raisers in the infected districts. 



VESICULAR ERUPTION OF THE GENITAL ORGANS. 



This contagious disease is called coital exanthema or vesicular 

 exanthema, and is more or less j^revalent on the Continent. It has 

 also been observed in the breeding districts of the United States It 

 is the subject of legislation in Germany, and governmental statistics 

 are published annually concerning its distribution in the Empire. 

 According to the reports from Hungary 492 head of cattle were 

 attacked during 1898, 587 in 1899, and 207 in 1900. 



A similar or perhaps identical disease of horses has the same dis- 

 tribution and is transmissible from horses to cattle and vice versa. 



The disease may be defined as a highly contagious eruption situated 

 upon the external genital organs of both sexes and accompanied with 

 little or no general disturbance of health. The contagion, the nature 

 of which remains still unknown, is transmitted mainly during copula- 

 tion. The bull may have the disease and convey it to all the cows 

 with which he comes in contact, or he may become infected by one 

 cow, and, although not showing the disease, he may, during copula- 

 tion, transmit it for several days after to all other cows. Simple 

 contact between one cow and another may convey the disease, or the 

 sponges used in cleaning the diseased may carry the virus to the 

 healthy. It has also been conveyed to healthy cows by these animals 

 lying with their hind quarters against infected wooden troughs. 



