Common Diseases of Farm AnimalsCraig, Robert Alexander
Science
Common Diseases of Farm Animals
Craig, Robert Alexander
Veterinary medicine
_The symptoms_ vary according to the animal and organ, or organs of the
body affected and the violence of the attack. The disease may be acute or
subacute. The brain and its membranes, lungs and air-passages and
intestines may become affected. The symptoms may be classed under the head
of nervous, respiratory and intestinal (Fig. 102), and they may be very
unsatisfactory from the standpoint of diagnosis. The history and
post-mortem lesions are of most value in the recognition of this disease.
The local conditions, the loss of several animals in the herd and the
finding of hemorrhagic lesions in the different body tissues may enable
the examiner to correctly diagnose the disease. It is very advisable in
order to confirm the diagnosis to make a bacteriological examination of the
tissues.
The acute form of the disease is very fatal. Animals that have the subacute
form usually recover. The death-rate is between five and fifteen per cent
of the herd. The mortality is heavier than this unless prompt preventive
measures are taken.
_Preventive treatment_ is of the greatest importance. Cattle that become
affected when running on pasture should be moved, or in case a part of the
pasture is swampy, we may prevent further loss by fencing off this portion.
Drinking places that are convenient and free from filth should be provided.
Watering troughs and drinking fountains should be cleaned and disinfected
every few weeks. For this purpose, use a three per cent water solution of a
cresol disinfectant, or a ten per cent water solution of sulfate of iron.
Dusty quarters should be cleaned and disinfected. Dirt floors may be
sprinkled with crude oil.
[Illustration: FIG. 102.--A yearling steer affected with septicaemia
haemorrhagica, intestinal form.]
When an outbreak of septicaemia haemorrhagica occurs in a herd, both the
well and sick animals should be given a physic. Cattle may be given
one-half pound of Epsom salts, repeated in three or four days; sheep and
hogs from one to four ounces of raw linseed oil. Animals that have the
subacute form of the disease may be given stimulants, and iron and bitter
tonics.
ANTHRAX, CHARBON.--This is an acute infectious disease affecting many
different species of animals. Anthrax is one of the oldest animal diseases,
and early in the history of the race it existed as a plague in Egypt. It
most commonly affects cattle, sheep and horses. Man contracts the disease
by handling wool and hides from animals that have died of anthrax, and by
accidental inoculation in examining the carcass of animals that have died
of the disease.
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