488 Veterinary Obstetrics 



close proximity to a mare which had recently aborted, or which 

 had come in contact with soiled bedding or with the aborted 

 fetus or afterbirth, might readily carry the disease and convey it 

 to healthy pregnant mares. 



The veterinary obstetrist should not disregard the opportunities 

 possessed by himself as an important bearer of infectious abor- 

 tion. In attending mares for dystocia, retained placenta, metri- 

 tis, etc., resulting from infectious abortion, his clothing, person, 

 instruments, etc., become soiled and only the most rigorous care 

 on his part will prevent his becoming a menace to other stables 

 of pregnant mares. 



As in other infectious diseases which are capable of being car- 

 ried by an intermediary bearer, there is the constant possibility 

 of the transmission of the disease by means of portions of the 

 aborted fetus or its afterbirth being carried from one place to 

 another through the agency of scavenger animals or birds — dogs, 

 crows, buzzards, etc. 



The vitality of the organism and the length of time it may 

 persist and be capable of infection, whether lodged upon, the 

 hair or other portions of an animal, upon the hands of men, upon 

 harness or blankets, we have no data to show. Neither do we 

 know for how long a time the germs may remain inactive in 

 the vagina and uterus of the mare and be capable of transmitting 

 the disease. The impression seems to be that, after a mare has 

 aborted, the organism continues virile at least as long as there is 

 a discharge from the genital apparatus. It would not be safe to 

 conclude, however, that the micro-organism disappears as soon 

 as the discharge ceases, but rather that it may remain in a com- 

 paratively inactive state in the vagina for weeks, or possibly 

 months. 



Control and Eradication. The control of infectious abor- 

 - tion in the mare, as in other animals, is a complex problem. One 

 of the chief obstacles in the control of infectious abortion, as in 

 other transmissable diseases, is the diflSculty of reaching an early 

 diagnosis. At present we can not always positively differentiate 

 the infectious abortion from the accidental abortion of class I or 

 the enzootic disease of class II. Accidental abortion may have a 

 definite history of accident and a reliable record of non-exposure. 

 Unless these data are very positive, little dependence should be 

 placed in them. Enzootic abortion due to infectious disease of 



