Colorado Experiment Station 
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SYMPTOMS 
The first evidence of the disease is a dull, listless appear¬ 
ance, the hair stands on end and the ears droop. The animal 
appears gaunt owing to failure to take the usual amount of 
food.* There may be a slight, moist cough. A diarrhoea 
usually appears soon after the other symptoms, or it may even 
be the first symptom noted. The respiration is increased and 
the pulse is rapid and weak. Many calves die in this stage 
without showing any swelling of the brisket. In some in¬ 
stances the appetite remains good up to within a few days 
of death. 
Later, there appears a swelling of the loose tissue under 
the jaw and a swelling of the loose tissues of the brisket. 
Either swelling may appear first, but gradually the two merge 
into each other as the whole under part of the neck becomes 
dropsical. In male animals, the sheath may swell consider¬ 
ably and the hind limbs become puffy. The fore limbs may 
stock in extreme cases. The swelling of the brisket may be¬ 
come enormous in size, extending out in front of the fore limbs 
as a rather firm doughy mass. There is no pain on pressure 
and the part is not increased in temperature. The abdomen 
may swell markedly in its lower portion, due to accumulation 
of fluid. 
The respiration becomes increased, but labored only on 
exercise. A clear, mucous discharge comes from the eyes and 
nostrils. There is no fever. The heart-beats are increased, 
especially on slight excitement or exercise, when they may 
run 100 to 120 per minute. Under these circumstances the 
beat is tumultous but lacks force, as evidenced by a very weak 
pulse. A pronounced jugular pulse is common in the later 
stages. 
Forced exercise in this later stage will cause labored 
breathing, coughing, hemorrhage from the nose, and if con¬ 
tinued, quick death. Consequently, it is difficult to drive an 
afflicted animal any considerable distance. 
The animals become very weak, so that the slightest ex¬ 
ertion or excitement causes them to fall. This has been noticed 
repeatedly when attempting to restrain them for close ob¬ 
servation. 
The usual course of the disease is from two weeks to 
three months, although a few animals have been known to 
apparently recover in the spring, only to be taken down again 
the following fall. We may say that most animals die within 
a month after symptoms are first noticed, the older cattle liv¬ 
ing longer than the younger. Death seems to be due either 
to suffocation or exhaustion and paralysis of the heart. 
