INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 567 



disease. Various medicinal agents liave been recommended and are 

 being exploited for the treatment, but to the present time no satis- 

 factory evidence has been established as to their merits. Bacterial 

 vaccines prepared from the specific organism have been given limited 

 trials, but to date they can not be considered as entirely satisfactory, 

 since it will require considerable experience with them before their 

 usefulness can be definitely established. 



The prevention should consist largely in sanitary measures di- 

 rected toward the disinfection of premises and animals. (For a 

 method for disinfection of premises see article under that heading.) 



The following procedure is advised for the disinfection of ani- 

 mals : To prevent a stallion from carrying the infection from a dis- 

 eased mare to a healthy one the sheath and the penis should be disr 

 infected with a solution of ^ per cent of compound cresol solu- 

 tion, lysol, or trikresol, or a 1 per cent carbolic acid or 1 to 

 1,000 potassium permanganate solution in warm water. For this 

 purpose it is advisable to use a soft-rubber tube with a large funnel 

 attached to one end, or an ordinary syringe and tube would serve the 

 purpose. The tube should be inserted into the sheath, and the fore- 

 skin held with the hand to prevent the immediate escape of the fluid. 

 In addition to this the hair of the belly and inner side of the thighs 

 should be sponged with an antiseptic. This disinfection should in- 

 variably precede and follow every service. 



With regard to the mares, a period of three months should elapse 

 between abortion and a subsequent breeding, and especially if there 

 is any evidence of a discharge the breeding of the animal should not 

 be undertaken. The mare showing signs of abortion should be imme- 

 diately isolated and the fetus and membranes should be burned. 

 The fetus should never be dragged across a barnyard or stable, but 

 should be removed by other means by which the contamination of 

 the premises may be prevented. The stall in which the animal 

 aborted should be thoroughly disinfected and the genital organs of 

 the mare washed daily with a disinfectant. The antiseptic washing 

 recommended for the treatment of the stallions prior to and after 

 breeding should be also used for the irrigation of the uterus of mares 

 which have aborted. This treatment should be continued daily until 

 all evidence of discharge has ceased. The isolation of the animal 

 should be carried out for at least one month after the evidence of a 

 discharge has ceased. 



By carefully and persistently carrying out the sanitary measures 

 it may be possible to control and finally eradicate the disease. 



NAVEL ILL OP COLTS. 



Navel ill of colts is also known as joint ill, omphalophlebitis, 

 septic arthritis of sucklings, and pyosepticemia of the newly born. 



