PREVENTION, SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT yg 



period is two to three days. Severe diarrhea with 15 to 20 stools 

 a day (often bloody), tog-ether with vomiting, characterizes this 

 disorder. From the enteric form of common distemper the dog 

 plague may be separated, as in the latter there is usually absence 

 of nasal discharge, cough, chorea, and continued high fever. There 

 may be, however, intermittent temperature and cough with hypo- 

 static pneumonia and convulsions. General treatment as for com- 

 mon distemper, and special treatment as for the intestinal form of 

 common distemper are indicated. Dog plague may be epizootic and 

 is often contracted at bench shows. 



Chronic Bacterial Dysentery (Pearson), Chronic Hypertrophic 

 Enteritis, Johne's Disease of Bovines. 



This hitherto little known disorder is often indigenous on cer- 

 tain farms for years and has heretofore been confused with other 

 maladies but is now known to be due to a special bacillus and to 

 constitute a specific disease. The bacillus is acid-fast and has the 

 appearance of the tubercle bacillus but is shorter and relatively 

 thicker and can not be grown on usual culture media. The sub- 

 cutaneous innoculation of animals with pieces of the diseased mu- 

 cous membrane commonly fails to transmit the disorder, but when 

 feces or pieces of bowel from sick animals are fed to sound animals 

 the disease has been transmitted. 



Symptoms. — In a herd, more commonly young, but sometimes 

 adult, animals begin to show loss of condition and weight with rough 

 staring coat and dry, inelastic skin. Soon it is noticed that the 

 animal has diarrhea, the discharges being often brown and of the 

 consistency of molasses. Fever is absent. Loss of appetite is 

 manifest after a time. Emaciation, weakness, anemia and anorexia 

 are progressive. 



The duration of the disease is long — from two months to two 

 or three years. The result appears to be invariably fatal and the 

 course of the disease is but little affected by medicinal treatment, 



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