Text book of veterinary medicine, Volume 2 (of 5)

by James Law

Finally as in other catarrhal inflammations the local action of disease germs on the mucous membrane must ever be borne in mind. These may be the germs of specific diseases localized in the pharynx;—in Solipeds the streptococcus of strangles, the bacillus of glanders, the diplococcus (streptococcus) of contagious pneumonia, the germ of influenza, and actinomyces;—in Cattle the bacillus tuberculosis, the bacillus of anthrax, actinomyces, the germs of aphthous fever and of pseudomembranous angina; in dogs canine madness and distemper;—in birds the bacillus of pseudomembranous pharyngitis.

In addition to such specific germs the micrococci, streptococci and bacilli which are normally present and harmless in the mouth and pharynx, enter, colonize and irritate the debilitated tissues in case of trauma, inflammation or constitutional disorder and serve to perpetuate and aggravate the affection.

Symptoms. Acute pharyngitis is manifested by impaired or lost appetite, dullness, weakness, by difficulty in deglutition, by the rejection through the nose of water or other liquids swallowed, by swelling over the parotid and above the larynx, and by a disposition to keep the head extended on the neck and the nose raised and protruded. Fever is more or less marked according to the severity of the attack the temperature being raised in mild cases to 100°, and, in the more violent, to 104° or 106°. The pulse and breathing may be excited, amounting sometimes to dyspnœa, the throat is tender to the touch and its manipulation rouses a cough, the nasal mucosa is congested and the buccal membrane, and especially along the margin of the tongue may be red and angry. Salivation is shown more or less, in solipeds the saliva accumulating especially during mastication in froth and bubbles at the commissures of the mouth, while in ruminants the grinding of the teeth or frequent movement of the jaws in the absence of food or actual mastication leads to a free escape of the filmy liquid at the same points. Dogs will rub the jaws with the foot as if to remove some irritating object from the mouth. In the last named animals the swelling of the tonsils, fauces and pharyngeal mucous membrane, may be seen marked by patches and spots of varying redness and swelling, covered with glairy or opaque mucopurulent secretions, or particles of food, or even showing erosions.

The cough of pharyngitis is painful, paroxysmal, and softer and more gurgling (even in the early stages) than that of laryngitis or bronchitis. It is roused by handling the throat, by swallowing, by a draught of cold air or by passing out of doors, in dogs by opening the mouth, and in cattle by pulling on the tongue which causes pain and resistance. The cough is followed by the rejection, mainly through the nose in solipeds, but also through the mouth in other animals, of a glairy mucus or an opaque mucopurulent discharge often mixed with and discolored by the elements of food or in bad cases by blood.

The course of the disease is comparatively rapid, and it usually ends in recovery in seven to fifteen days, in cases that are not complicated by dangerous local infections.

Diagnosis is mainly based on the stiff carriage of the neck with the nose elevated, the swelling and tenderness of the throat, manipulation above the larynx rousing the cough, the soft or rattling nature of the cough, the ejection of liquids and foods through the nose, the movements of the jaws apart from mastication and the salivation. From parotitis it is distinguished by the concentration of the swelling and tenderness to the deepseated region above the larynx, by the abundance of the discharge, by the ejection of liquids through the nose, and by the readiness with which the cough is aroused. From abscess of the guttural pouch it is differentiated by the more continuous discharge from the nose, rather than the intermittent one. From tuberculous pharyngeal glands by its acute nature, by the absence of the glandular swellings in which the tuberculosis is concentrated, also by the absence of tubercles in other parts of the body. From actinomycosis by its more rapid progress and by the absence of the hard indurated cutaneous or subcutaneous swellings, and of the open sores with minute sulphur colored granules that mark that affection. From adenitis and phlegmonous pharyngitis it is distinguished by the absence of the glandular swelling and dyspnœa which attend on that affection. From the various fatal febrile affections, the germs of which may be localized in the throat, it may be diagnosed by the absence of the more profound constitutional disturbance, and of the more characteristic local symptoms of these which are seldom altogether awanting, though often greatly modified.

Lesions. Beside the thick covering of mucopurulent and alimentary matters, the pharyngeal mucosa, when washed, shows redness, ramified or reticulated, more or less swelling amounting at times to œdema, a soft friable consistency, which like the œdema may in bad cases extend into the submucous tissue, granular elevations, and raw abrasions caused by the destruction and removal of the epithelium. In some instances the ulcers may become quite extensive.

In the more specific inflammations (tubercle, glanders, rabies, aphthous fever, contagious pneumonia, anthrax, actinomycosis), the lesions will vary according to the specific nature of the disease.

Prevention. Avoid the various thermal, chemical, mechanical, and unhygienic causes already referred to, and the exposure to such infectious diseases as are liable to localize themselves in the throat.

Treatment. A piece of blanket or sheepskin placed round the throat with the wool turned inward, a moderately warm stall with pure air, and a diet composed of soft, warm or tepid mashes, (all hard or fibrous food, oats, hay, etc. being withheld) are important conditions.