GASTRO-ENTERITIS 125 



Course. — The course is usually one to two weeks, ending in 

 recovery. Death occurs only in those cases in which symp- 

 toms of severe gastro-enteritis appear or more rarely may be 

 due to a complete obstruction of the bowel through the 

 accumulation of fibrinous masses. 



Prognosis. — Usually good. Most cases recover. 



Treatment. — ^A large dose of salts (lbs. j to ij) is very useful. 

 It may be followed by the administration of oils (raw linseed 

 or castor oil Oj to ij). The after-treatment is the same 

 as recommended in gastro-intestinal catarrh (diet, hygiene, 

 stimulants, demulcents). 



Mycotic Gastro-enteritis. Silage Poisoning. Forage Poi- 

 soning. Mold Poisoning. Cryptogamic Poisoning. Falsely 

 called " Cerebrospinal Meningitis." Leukoencephalitis. — Defi- 

 nition. — A form of gastro-enteritis leading to intoxication of 

 the central nervous system, affecting herbivorous animals and 

 due to the ingestion of food infested with certain bacteria or 

 fimgi. The disorder is probably not a clinical entity. 



Occurrence. — Forage poisoning is very prevalent in the 

 United States, appearing particularly among horses which 

 have eaten corn silage, shredded fodder, corn stalks or corn 

 cobs. The disorder may, however, occur in horses on pasture 

 and which have not been fed corn. During hot, showery 

 seasons the rank growth of grass, which mats together, forms 

 an ideal medium for the development of various molds 

 which are pathogenic. In all probability water drunk from 

 stagnant pools or shallow wells may also be a factor. Lands 

 in low, flat sections which are periodically flooded by streams 

 flowing through them are especially dangerous in this regard. 

 The disease is, therefore, quite prevalent along the river 

 valleys of the United States. Cattle and sheep are also 

 ajBFected, but less frequently than are horses. Cattle are 

 sometimes infected while on orchard pastures, the ground 

 strewn with "wind-fall" apples, which they eat. (Acidosis?) 



Etiology. — Molds (mucor, aspergillus, penicillium), 

 "blights" or smuts (Tilletia caries, ustilago), rusts (puccinia, 

 uromyces), and yeasts (Polydesmus exitiosus), which infest 

 forage, grain, and water at times, are pathogenic, and through 

 their toxins produce in the animal body symptoms which fall. 



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