66 



Contagious Abortion in Cattle. 



cow which has just been bought. If this cow aborts, one of 

 the herd — although until then they had all, without excep- 

 tion, calved at the proper time — aborts in turn, then a second, 

 a third, and so on. When this occurs the byre is undoubtedly 

 infected, and the disease will recur for several years, some- 

 times for eight or ten years, with the most discouraging 

 persistence. 



If in-calf cows are brought into an infected byre from a 

 non-infected byre or district where abortion does not occur ? 

 it may happen that some of them will not calve until their 

 due time. Such cows will be found to be those that were the 

 most forward in pregnancy ; of the others, many will abort. 



A cow seldom aborts before the fourth month of gestation ; 

 after this period abortion may occur at any time. 



In most cases the calf is dead when aborted. Sometimes, 

 however, the calf is born alive, and may even be well 

 formed and vigorous in appearance. Nevertheless, in at 

 least nine cases out of ten, it ceases to suck some days 

 after birth, is attacked with diarrhoea, begins to bellow 

 continuously in a strange manner, and dies in a few days, 

 sometimes even in a few hours. 



Removing all the cattle from the byre and restocking with 

 cows from a district where abortion is unknown will not 

 be enough to secure the disappearance of the disease. 

 The byre must also be thoroughly disinfected. 



Every cow that has aborted (from contagious abortion) 

 should be regarded as useless for breeding purposes. Such 

 a cow either gets the habit of seeking the bull several times 

 in the month without becoming impregnated, or if impreg- 

 nation takes place she will abort again. Exceptions to this 

 rule are extremely rare. The best course, therefore, is to 

 give up sending the cow to service, and to prepare her for 

 the butcher. If, however, for any particular reason a further 

 trial is desired, the cow should at all events be kept separated 

 from the bull for three or four months, and not put in the 

 same byre with the other cattle. She should be served by a 

 special bull, or, if this should not be practicable, the penis of 

 the bull should be carefully washed immediately after service 

 with the solution of the antiseptic mentioned below, and the 



