Brisket Disease. 
5 
estimates that out of between four and five hundred cattle, he lost 
thirty calves and ten or twelve older animals. Another man lost 
twelve during the winter of 1912-1913. Still another says, after 
several years’ experience, he has lost practically all bulls that he 
shipped in from a low altitude and he figures his loss at about five 
per cent. It seems conservative to estimate the annual loss at one 
or two per cent of all cattle above eight thousand feet. While this 
may seem small, yet in the aggregate it means many thousands of 
dollars. 
TRANSMISSION. 
We have tried only twice to transmit the disease, as the nature 
of the malady and the further investigation did not seem to warrant 
more work along this line. One cubic centimeter of blood was 
drawn from the jugular vein of case one, a seven-year-old cow, and 
injected into the jugular vein of a two-year-old steer. The steer 
was under observation for more than a year following and showed 
no symptoms of the disease. Ten cubic centimeters of serum were 
taken from the pleural cavity of case two (a calf that was slaugh¬ 
tered for the purpose of making the autopsy) and injected subcu¬ 
taneously into the brisket of a healthy calf. This calf was under 
observation for more than a year and developed no symptoms of 
the disease. 
Several cases have been known where an affected animal ran 
with numbers of healthy ones for weeks with no spread of the dis¬ 
ease. No attempt has ever been made to isolate diseased animals 
and yet it does not appear that this practice has had any effect in 
spreading the disease. Later in this article we will have something 
to say as to the cause and it will then appear why we do not regard 
the disease as transmissible or even as infectious. 
ANIMALS AFFECTED. 
The disease has been investigated in cattle only, and seems to 
be much more prevalent in these animals. Man and the horse prob¬ 
ably suffer similarly under the same conditions in occasional cases. 
Animals of all ages are affected, although it is not commonly rec¬ 
ognized in young calves since these animals often die without 
showing the swelling of the brisket. Case number nine showed the 
typical lesions on post mortem examination, although at the time 
it was only six weeks old. Many calves die from this disease when 
the owners believe it to be diphtheria or some other malady. 
EFFECT OF CLIMATE. 
At the lower altitudes, eight thousand to nine thousand feet, 
the disease is more prevalent in the winter, in fact seldom appears 
