INFECTIOUS BULBAR PARALYSIS 253 



Diagnosis. — ^The diagnosis during the life of the patient is 

 not so easy on account of the similarity of the disease to 

 rabies. However, the patient with bulbar paralysis does not 

 show the aggressive and destructive tendencies of the rabid 

 animal and the symptom of pruritus is much more marked; 

 on postmortem Negri bodies are absent; animals inoculated 

 usually die more rapidly (rabbits in convulsions in one to 

 three days), and the saliva is not infective. 



Treatment. — ^Treatment is rarely of avail. It is recom- 

 mended to apply tincture of iodin to the skin lesions, and if 

 possible to so tie the animal that it cannot bite and rub itself. 

 Edematous swellings may be scarified and iodin injected. 



Believing the Rhus toxicodendron (three-leaved poison 

 ivy) or the shrub Rhus vernix might be etiological factors, 

 Gary, of Alabama, recommends that these plants be eradi- 

 cated from pasture fields or that animals be kept from past- 

 ures containing them. He also suggests the use externally of 

 permanganate of potash solution (1 per cent.) two or three 

 times daily. Internally, Epsom salts or raw linseed oil is 

 recommended. 



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