CROUPOUS BRONCHITIS IN CATTLE AND SHEEP.
Causes, smoke, hot air or gas, irritant inhalations, concomitant of infectious diseases. Lesions, intense congestion covered by fibrinous exudates. Symptoms, slowly or suddenly developed, fever, loud, wheezing, stertorous, panting breathing, dyspnœa, dry râles and blowing. Course. Treatment, moist jacket, soothing, expectorant, stimulant inhalations, expectorants, derivatives.
This affection has been found in cattle and sheep from exposure to smoke, hot air or gas, and other irritants, and even from exposure to cold, and without any suspicion of a contagious element. Again it has been seen as a complication in Rinderpest, lung plague and malignant catarrh. The lesions are those of tumefaction and extreme arborescent redness of the mucosa, and the formation of patches of a dense fibrinous exudate of a yellowish color, in some cases completely obstructing some of the smaller tubes.
Symptoms. The attack may come on slowly as in ordinary bronchitis, while in other cases it is sudden. The respiration being loud, wheezing, stertorous and panting and general dyspnœa supervening. Auscultation furnishes loud, blowing sounds, dry râles and rouchi, while percussion may show no abnormal change. A strong tremor is felt by the hand on the trachea, and after a paroxysm of coughing false membranes may be expelled. If there is no improvement by the second or third day death is liable to supervene by asphyxia.
Treatment is usually unsatisfactory. The hot, moist jacket, inhalations of vapors of warm water, of carbonate of ammonia, and of ether may be tried, counterirritants to the chest, and internally liquor ammonia acetatis and iodide of sodium would be indicated. When the membranes are somewhat loosened pilocarpin, or in weaker subjects apomorphine may assist their expulsion.