354 ACUTE GENERAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES 



patients remain standing unless greatly fatigued or the attack 

 mild. 



From swelling of the head mastication is difficult or 

 impossible. If the pharynx is involved, blood-tinged saliva 

 drools from the mouth and regurgitation through the nostrils 

 is noted. Food is sometimes retained between the teeth and 

 cheeks, where it decomposes and emits a fetid odor. The 

 appetite is good in the earlier stages and may be retained 

 throughout mild attacks. If hemorrhagic or inflammatory 

 infiltration of the gastro-intestinal tract occur, colic symptoms 

 follow. The feces are sometimes blood-stained, and diarrhea 

 may set in as a symptom of some complication (septicemia). 



The temperature is usually only slightly elevated and may 

 remain practically normal throughout the course of the dis- 

 ease, provided no complications occur. If complications 

 exist, or the disease which preceded the attack of purpura was 

 a feverish one and still to a degree persist, the temperature is 

 elevated. Purpura and the disease from which it develops 

 may occur concomitantly in the same patient. 



In the early stages the pulse remains about normal. As a 

 rule, it rarely goes beyond 50 to 60. If it exceed 80, compli- 

 cations are present. 



Complications. — (a) Gangrene of the skin with sloughing 

 is not an uncommon complication. The process of healing is 

 slow (sometimes two to three months), and frequently 

 unsightly scars are left behind, greatly reducing the market 

 value of the horse. 



(b) Foreign body pneumonia : This is apt to follow severe 

 pharyngitis, with dysphagia, or more rarely may be due to 

 the aspiration of necrotic pieces of mucous membrane from 

 the nasal cavities and throat. Pulmonary gangrene usually 

 follows, leading to death in two to three weeks. 



(c) Septicemia usually attended by a sudden disappearance 

 of the symptoms, profuse diarrhea, recumbent position, and 

 decubitus. Pulse is elevated, temperature high. 



(d) Gastro-enteritis : Some cases begin with symptoms of 

 colic which yield to proper treatment, the purpura following 

 taking a benign course. If, however, large extravasations 

 occur in the stomach, small or large intestines, severe gastro- 



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