334 ACUTE GENERAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES 



voluntarily during a downpour of rain. That the herd should 

 be given proper food and careful attention is obvious. 



Once the disease has made its appearance in a flock the 

 separation of the sick and the healthy coupled with a 

 thorough disinfection of the premises are indicated. 



SEPTICEMIC DISEASES OF NEWBORN ANIMALS. 



Dysentery of Sucklings (Dysenterid Neonatorum-; Calf 

 Scours; White Scours) . — ^Definition. — This is an acute, gastro- 

 enteritis rarely occurring in animals over one week old. It 

 appears enzootically and is characterized clinically by a 

 profuse diarrhea, great exhaustion, and a rapid, fatal course. 



Occurrence. — The disease occurs in calves, lambs, foals and 

 pigs (rare in dogs and cats) and appears especially in breeding 

 districts at the time of parturition (spring and fall), causing 

 great losses on account of its rapid spread and fatal termina- 

 tion. In some outbreaks every calf or lamb born on the prem- 

 ises becomes infected and dies of the disease in the first few 

 days of its extra-uterine life. 



Etiology. — The etiology of dysentery has not been worked 

 out. No one organism has been isolated which seems to 

 explain all cases. The close relationship between this 

 disease, pneumonia, septicemia and pyosepticemia of suck- 

 lings, has been recognized. As dysentery often occurs con- 

 comitantly with infectious abortion it has been suggested 

 that some outbreaks of the disease might be due to the Bacil- 

 lus abortus. Poels failed to recover a constant organism 

 in calves showing symptoms of the disease. Among other 

 organisms he isolated the Bacillus pyocyaneus. Carpenter 

 has isolated from the stomach contents and meconium of 

 fetal calves at different periods of gestation a number of 

 organisms, the streptococcus predominating. What the 

 effect, however, of these organisms might have been, were the 

 fetus allowed to mature, could not be determined. Some 

 outbreaks seem to have been due to the Bacillus enteriditis 

 of Gartner. 



Natural Infection. — Once introduced into a barn the infec- 

 tion remains there with remarkable tenacity, causing year 



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