Common Diseases of Farm Animals

by Robert Alexander Craig

QUESTIONS

1. What is the specific cause of distemper? Give the symptoms and
treatment.

2. What are the different methods of spreading influenza? Give the symptoms
and treatment.

3. Give the cause and methods of controlling glanders.

4. Give the cause and treatment of contagious pleuropneumonia.

CHAPTER XXX

INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTLE

[Illustration: FIG. 117.—A case of "lumpy jaw.">[

ACTINOMYCOSIS, "LUMPY JAW."—This is an infectious disease that is characterized by the formation of tumors and abscesses (Fig. 117), and the destruction of the infected tissues. The disease is common in cattle and usually affects the bones and soft parts of the head. In the United States, where the disease is known as "lumpy jaw" the jawbone is commonly affected. In European countries the disease frequently involves the tongue, and the term "wooden tongue" is applied to it. The disease may affect regions of the body other than the head. Actinomycosis of the lungs sometimes occurs. Swine and horses may be affected by this disease.

The specific cause of actinomycosis is commonly known as the ray fungus (Fig. 118). This fungus grows on certain plants, and the animal usually contracts the disease by eating plants or roughage that have the fungus on them. Grasses having awns that are capable of wounding the mucous membrane of the mouth and penetrating the gums are most apt to produce the disease. Young cattle that are replacing and erupting their teeth are most prone to "lumpy jaw." Conditions that favor bruising of the jaw and external wounds favor the development of actinomycosis.