462 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



the world. It is characterized by the peculiarity among animal dis- 

 eases that the animals which disseminate the infection are apparently 

 in good health, while those which sicken and die from it do not, as a 

 rule, infect others. 



It is accompanied by high fever, greatly enlarged spleen, destruction 

 of the red-blood corpuscles, escape of the coloring matter of the blood 

 through the kidneys, giving the urine a deep-red color, by a yellowness 

 of the mucous membranes and fat, which is seen more especially in fat 

 cattle, by a rapid loss of strength, and by fatal results in a large pro- 

 portion of cases. 



This disease has various names in different sections of the country 

 where it frequently appears. It is often called Spanish fever, acclima- 

 tion fever, red water, black water, distemper, murrain, dry murrain, 

 yellow murrain, bloody murrain, Australian tick fever, and tristeza 

 cf South America. 



The earliest accounts we have of this disease date back to 1814, when 

 it was stated by Dr. Jame3 Mease, before the Philadelphia Society for 

 Promoting Agriculture, that the cattle from a certain district in South 

 Carolina so certainly disease all others with which they mix in their 

 progress to the North that they are prohibited by the people of Vir- 

 ginia from passing through the State; that these cattle infect others 

 while they themselves are in perfect health, and that cattle from 

 Europe or the interior taken to the vicinity of the sea are attacked 

 by a disease that generally proves fatal. Similar observations have 

 been made in regard to a district in the southern part of the United 

 States indicated by the shaded area on the map, Plate LI. The 

 northern limits of this area are changed yearly as a result of the dis- 

 semination or eradication of the cattle tick along the border, but the 

 infected area has gradually decreased, owing to the successful en- 

 deavors pushed forward to eliminate the ticks. 



It was the foequent and severe losses following the driving of cattle 

 from the infected district in Texas into and across the Western States 

 and Territories which led to the disease being denominated Texas 

 fever. It is now known, however, that the infection is not peculiar to 

 Texas or even to the United States, but that it also exists in southern 

 Europe, Central and South America, Australia, South Africa, and the 

 "West Indies. 



When cattle from other sections of the country are taken into the 

 infected district they contract this disease usually during the first 

 summer, and if they are adult animals, particularly milch cows or fat 

 cattle, nearly all die. Calves are much more likely to survive. The 

 disease is one from which immunity is acquired, and therefore calves 

 which recover are not again attacked, as a rule, even after they become 

 adult. 



