The treatment in this condition is chiefly of a prophylactic character. Bulls which have served cows belonging to herds known to be infected should not be allowed to cover healthy cows. They should undergo careful local disinfection, and for a time be withdrawn from the stud.
Cows which show signs of impending abortion should at once be removed to a separate shed. The fœtus and its envelopes should be buried or burnt, and the person who attends the diseased cow should be prohibited from entering the common cow-shed.
Where space does not admit of this the affected cows should be removed as far as possible from those still healthy and placed in a separate row. When they abort the after-birth should be removed by hand, and the uterus daily washed out with some non-irritant but effectual disinfectant. Even after apparent recovery a period of probation should elapse before the cow is again put to the bull.
The genital organs and vaginæ of the still healthy animals may also be irrigated with a disinfectant solution, in order, if possible, to ward off infection. For disinfecting the channels and floor of the stable quick-lime will be found clean, non-odorous, cheap and effective.
In dealing with this disease one must always bear in mind the great vitality of the bacterium, the relatively long time it may persist either in the animal’s body or in the infected sheds, and the considerable period which may elapse before its effects become evident.
The same or a similar organism seems capable of producing abortion in sheep and mares.
SALPINGITIS SALPINGO-OVARITIS.
This section will be brief, because the condition is very far from having been thoroughly elucidated. Moussu himself has only studied a single case of simple suppurative salpingo-ovaritis.
Salpingitis and salpingo-ovaritis, i.e., inflammation of the Fallopian tubes and of the ovaries, can only develop as a consequence of ascending infection, as a complication of acute or chronic metritis, by auto-infection during the course of tuberculosis, or as an accident during what is known as tubal gestation.
Tuberculous salpingitis is frequent, and exists in a very large majority of cases of genital tuberculosis. Accidental salpingitis as a consequence of tubal gestation is extremely rare, and is usually overlooked or mistaken for some other condition.