DISEASES OF NEWBORN ANIMALS 337 



Prophylaxis. — As the preceding sanitary measures recom- 

 mended have never proved satisfactory an effort has been 

 made to cope with the disease from another angle. The 

 experiments of Williams seem to indicate the importance of 

 a clean uterus before conception. He, therefore, recommends 

 douching the uterus to remove pathogenic organisms before 

 the animal is bred. Obviously this must be done in a 

 thorough manner in order that no infection remain to infect 

 the fetus. 



A serum, produced from the supposed causal germs of 

 the disease, is now being employed to increase the resist- 

 ance of the newborn calf. It may be administered 

 subcutaneously, intramuscularly or intravenously. The 

 dose for a newborn calf is 50 mils. Very much larger doses 

 may be given without injury. The objection to the larger 

 dose is purely economical, as the cost of the serum is high. 



Bacterins injected subcutaneously in small doses (1 mil per 

 day for ten days) have also been tried. Autogenic bacterins 

 prepared from cultm-es taken from a calf, which has died of the 

 infection and belonging to the infected herd, have given the 

 best results. Like most bacterins, however, much greater 

 success is obtained by their use in chronic than in acute cases. 



The diet of the calf should be carefully attended to. 

 Underfeeding is preferable to overfeeding. Feed only clean, 

 whole milk during the first day or two of the calf's life. 

 Afterwards the milk is boiled to destroy pathogenic organisms. 

 The calves should be kept in separate pens with tight parti- 

 tions and absolute cleanliness insisted upon. 



Experiments to produce active immunity of the fetus 

 in utero by inoculating subcutaneously pregnant cows with 

 sterile extracts of colon bacilli, have been made with as yet 

 conflicting results. 



Pyosepticemia of Sucklings (Pasteurellosis Neonatorum; 

 Pyemic Arthritis; Joint III; Omphalophlebitis; Navel III). — 

 Definition. — ^This is an acute contagio-infectious disease of 

 animals less than one month old, due to navel infection,, and 

 characterized by joint lesions usually of a purulent character. 

 It is accompanied by septicopyemia. Peracute cases take 

 the form of a general septicemia, 

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