GID IN SHEEP.
—A disease of the brain due to a worm in the brain substance. This worm, known as the bladder worm, is a form of the tape-worm of the dog at an early stage of its existence. The eggs of this worm, on being swallowed, are hatched in the stomach, from which they enter into the circulation, finally lodging in the brain and spinal cord. Those that lodge elsewhere, as in the heart and lungs, grow for a time and then disappear. The most conspicuous symptom is the staggering, stupefied condition of the affected animal.
In walking, if a single side is affected, a circle is described. The feet are raised as if the animal did not see well. In many cases blindness results. The growth of the worm is somewhat rapid. In about three weeks after the appearance of the disease a softened condition of the skull results, which may be found by pressing the fingers over it. From this it will be observed that there is practically no treatment for animals affected. Occasionally the skin is accidentally broken over the point where the worm is encysted, out of which it emerges and the sheep recovers.
Treatment, therefore, is along the line of this natural recovery. Find the soft spot by pressing the fingers over the skull, then introduce the trocar and canula. Withdraw the trocar, apply a syringe to the canula, and withdraw the contents of the cyst within. Of course, inflammation of the brain may set in and the sheep die from this, or another worm may be present and grow, thus causing continued disease. Inasmuch as the bladder worm of sheep is a stage of the tape-worm of the dog, it follows that destroying all affected sheep, so as to prevent the dogs from becoming reinfested from it, is the only really safe and satisfactory method of warding off the trouble.