MICROBIAL DISEASES OP MAN AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS 753 



ing animals. Tanneries using anthrax-infected hides may be the cause 

 of distributing the organism by means of effluent water which has been 

 used for steeping hides. Many such cases have been traced in Dela- 

 ware, Wisconsin and in Ontario. Hay from an infected pasture may be 

 transported to a distant farm, and cause an outbreak of the disease. 

 In Brazil, vultures feeding on anthrax carcasses disseminate the spores 

 by means of their excrement, and thus spread the disease. Blood- 

 sucking flies may also be instrumental in transferring the bacterium 

 from one animal to another. 



' ..t.. .-•<., i.i.. -■■: -,.. , ■•'.' r ,_#*,■ ., . 





i/hiU 







^l^. 



L 



Fig. 158. — Anthrax. The organisms of anthrax in the capillaries of the liver of a 

 mouse. (j4/ter Williams.) 



Season is a contributing factor. In years in which the spring 

 floods have been very high, followed by a hot dry season, anthrax is 

 most prevalent. 



There are a few preliminary symptoms; there is usually sudden 

 loss of appetite, trembling and convulsive movements. Often blood 

 is seen in urine or fasces or discharged from the nose. The mucous 

 membranes are often bluish in color, and boils or pustules may occur 

 on various parts of the body. Death in cattle occurs in two to five 

 days and in sheep in twenty-four to thirty-six hours. The mortality 

 is high and intestinal cases are fatal in 80 to 90 per cent of the animals 

 attacked. 



48 



