96 Veterinary Obstetrics 



functions of the animal are not usually affected, the temperature 

 and appetite remaining very nearlj' or quite normal. The affec- 

 tion may lead to chronic catarrh of the vagina ; or it may result 

 in adhesions between the walls of the vagina, more or less com- 

 pletely closing that canal. 



In the bull, the penis and sheath are inflamed, swollen a^nd. 

 tender. Eruptions of the same character as we have described 

 in the cow appear also upon the penis, first as papules, which, 

 develop into vesicles, to be followed by ulcers. The urethra is 

 similarly involved, as expressed by a muco-purulent discharge- 

 This is further shown by the urine being frequently voided in- 

 small amounts, with appearances of pain. The swelling of the 

 penis and its sheath tends to produce phimosis. 



Erection of the penis causes bleeding and this is especially 

 evident immediately after copulation. Kampmann records a 

 case of extensive necrosis of the penis with a permanent de- 

 formity. The duration of the disease is usually brief and gener- 

 ally ends in spontaneous recovery in from one to four weeks. 

 An outbreak in a stable may continue for a long time by being- 

 transmitted first to one and then to another animal. One attack 

 apparently confers little or no immunity and, when an animaL 

 has almost recovered, the disease may be renewed through 

 copulation. 



This affection should be differentiated from the granular ven- 

 ereal disease of cattle. In the latter, vesicles and pustules are 

 absent throughout and it runs a far more chronic and virulent 

 course. We find no record of the latter affection in America^ 

 while the vesicular venereal disease is widely distributed. 



The prognosis is highly favorable and it is only rarely that 

 material loss follows. 



The control of the disease must rest fundamentally upon the 

 isolation of the affected animals. It is highly essential that the- 

 two sexes should be kept entirely apart. Even steers should not 

 be allowed in an enclosure with cows, because they sometimes 

 attempt copulation and may therebj .serve to transmit the 

 disease. A diseased cow should not be permitted to stand in 

 close proximity to healthy ones because the infection may be 

 transmitted from one animal to the other through the medium of 

 the tail, bj' soiled bedding or other means. Affected animals, 

 should on no account be bred until they have fully recovered > 



