INFECTIOUS ABORTION 435 



(a) Cows which are about to abort or have aborted should 

 be removed from the rest of the herd. If it is impossible to 

 place them in a separate barn they should be placed in a 

 separate 'part of the barn or at least one or two empty stalls 

 left between them and their neighbors. 



(b) The premises should be thoroughly cleaned and dis- 

 infected and the dead fetuses and afterbirths rendered 

 innoxious by burning, boiling, or deep burial. As the herd 

 bull is a transmitter it is advisable to disinfect his genital 

 organs after each service by flushing out the sheath with 

 some antiseptic (lysol I per cent.). The long hairs at the 

 end of the sheath should be cut away and the hair around 

 and in front of the sheath's opening removed with clippers. 



(c) Cows which have aborted and are still discharging 

 should be treated by irrigating with an antiseptic solution 

 (lysol 1 per cent.; creolin 2 per cent.). At first this may 

 be done every other day, later every third day and afterward 

 once or twice a week until all discharge ceases'. The cow 

 should not be bred for about ten weeks after she has aborted 

 and not then if still discharging. It is usually advisable to 

 flush out her genital passages just before service with a 

 bicarbonate of soda solution (2 per cent.). 



Prevention. — To prevent the introduction of the disease 

 from the outside all newly purchased, pregnant animals 

 should be isolated until after calving. No cows should be 

 added to the herd with any abnormal vaginal discharge. 

 No bull should be patronized unless he is known to be clean. 

 Aborting herds should not be allowed to exhibit at fairs or 

 cattle shows - which is a common way of distributing the 

 virus of the disease. 



Cows which have aborted should not be sold but kept 

 in the herd until they become "ceased abbrters," unless 

 they fail to conceive when bred. Keeping together the 

 original herd -will lead to a more rapid eradication of the 

 disease than if the infected animals are sold and replaced 

 with new susceptible ones. 



Immunization. — Becent investigations by Bang point to 

 the probability of immunizing cattle against infectious 

 abortion. He employed repeated intravenous injections of 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



