HEMORRHAGIC SEPTICEMIA 333 



are observable. Later the affected goat becomes listless and 

 languid, lags behind the flock, holds its head low, and the 

 eyelids partially closed. There is usually some nasal dis- 

 charge and occasional coughing. The pulse is slow and weak, 

 the temperature at first elevated (104.1° F.) but later, a few 

 hours before death, it becomes subnormal (99.7° F.). As the 

 disease progresses the gait grows staggering, the back 

 arched, the patient moving in a wavering, unsteady fashion. 

 The appetite is capricious. Rumination is rarely impaired. 

 The mucous membranes are anemic, the respirations increas- 

 ed. Finally the patient becomes so weak that it falls to the 

 ground and must be assisted to its feet. Gradually losing 

 weight it lingers from day to day, and finally under symptoms 

 of fetid diarrhea, succumbs. Frequent, plaintive bleating is 

 noted. 



Diagnosis. — ^The symptoms of takosis are usually so similar 

 to those of parasitism that from the clinical aspects alone a 

 diagnosis would hardly be possible. The necropsy would 

 determine the presence or absence of parasites. However, in 

 parasitism the pneumonic symptoms are not so well developed 

 and the tendency for submaxillary edemas to form is greater. 



Course. — The course is usually chronic, the patient dying in 

 from one to eight weeks. The mortality is 100 per cent. 

 Pregnant does usually abort. 



Treatment. — Medicinal treatment has proved unsatisfac- 

 tory, as all patients naturally infected die. Some authorities 

 recommend small doses of calomel (grs. ij twice daily for two 

 days) followed by arsenic, iron, and quinin: 



Prophylaxis. — To prevent takosis it is recommended that 

 when goats are shipped from one part of the country to 

 another that it be done during the summer or late spring, 

 and not in the fall or winter, thus avoiding as far as possible 

 sudden climatic changes. It is also advisable at all times to 

 provide the goats with a storm shelter to which they go 



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