SPECIAL REPORT ON DISEASES OF CATTLE TEXT

that a given animal has rabies, since the symptoms given above belong in part to a variety of other diseases, among which may be mentioned the excitement seen in young animals following close confinement, certain vegetable and mineral poisons, acute enteritis, and alterations of the central nervous system in cattle, the most common of which is tuberculosis of the brain and its covering membranes. The post-mortem lesions, however, should assist in making a correct diagnosis. Tetanus may readily be differentiated from rabies by the persistence of muscular cramps, especially of the face and abdomen, which cause these muscles to become set and as hard as wood. In tetanus there is also an absence of a depraved appetite or of a willful propensity to hurt other animals or to damage the surroundings. The cow remains quiet and the general muscular contraction gives her a rigid appearance. There is an absence of paralysis which marks the advanced stage of rabies. The form of dumb rabies in dogs is characterized by the paralysis and pendency of the lower jaw, while in tetanus the jaws are locked. This locking of the jaws in cattle renders the animal incapable of bellowing, as in rabies. Finally, tetanus may be distinguished from rabies by the fact that the central nervous system does not contain the infectious principle, while in rabies the inoculation of test rabbits with the brain or cord of a rabid animal will produce the disease with characteristic symptoms after an interval of 15 to 20 days. This period of incubation is much longer than in tetanus, since the inoculation of rabbits with tetanus cultures invariably results in death after a short period and usually within three days. The positive evidence that a rabid dog has been near cattle would greatly assist in making a decision in doubtful cases. The disease in dogs is pretty well recognized by most people, but in case a suspected dog is killed it is desirable to open the animal and examine the contents of the stomach. While feed is absent, a variety of odd things may be present which the abnormally changed appetite of the rabid dog has induced it to swallow. Among such things may be straws, sticks, glass, rags, earth, pieces of leather, and whatever the animal may have encountered small enough to be swallowed. This miscellaneous collection in the stomach of dogs, together with absence of feed, is regarded by authorities as a very valuable sign, and in case of doubt may be made use of by laymen. In important cases, however, the head of the dog, cow, or other suspected animal should be removed and sent to the nearest biological laboratory, where a positive diagnosis can be made within 36 hours by the histological examination of the plexiform nerve ganglia, and within two or three weeks by the intracerebral inoculation of rabbits with an emulsion of the brain of the suspected animal. _Treatment._--This is useless after the first appearance of symptoms. When, however, a wound inflicted by a rabid animal can be discovered, it should be immediately cauterized or even completely extirpated, care being taken to cut entirely around the wound in the healthy tissues. For cauterizing the wound, fuming nitric acid, the hot iron, and 10 per cent solution of zinc chlorid are the most efficacious. To afford an absolute protection, this should be done within a few moments after the bite has been inflicted, although even as late as a few hours it has been known to thwart the development of the disease. Pasteur originated and perfected a system of preventive inoculation against this disease which has greatly reduced the mortality in human subjects. Its application to animals, however, is difficult and requires considerable time and expense. A method of vaccination applicable to animals, consisting of a single injection of a suspension of "fixed" rabies virus, is now being quite extensively employed by veterinarians. Sanitary regulations which seek to control effectively the disease by exterminating it among dogs are most likely to prove successful. The measures which are adopted to this end can not be discussed in this place, but it is a striking fact that where the muzzling of all dogs has been rigidly enforced, as in England and in certain German districts, the disease has been practically stamped out. TUBERCULOSIS. [Pls. XXXIV-XXXVIII.] Tuberculosis is an infectious and communicable disease characterized in its early stages by the formation, in various organs of the body, of minute nodules or tubercles, which contain _Mycobacterium tuberculosis_, the cause of the disease. The disease, in its various manifestations, has been known for many centuries, and legislative enactments having reference to the destruction of affected animals and forbidding the use of the flesh date far back into the Middle Ages. The opinions entertained regarding the nature and the cause of the malady varied much in different periods and very markedly influenced the laws and regulations in vogue. Thus, in the sixteenth century, the disease was considered identical with syphilis in man. In consequence of this belief very stringent laws were enacted, which made the destruction of tuberculous cattle compulsory. In the eighteenth century this erroneous conception of the nature of the disease was abandoned and all restrictions against the use of meat were removed. Since that time, however, its communicable nature has been established by many investigators, and the tide of opinion has again turned in favor of repressing the disease and prohibiting the sale of contaminated products. _Occurrence._--The statistics concerning tuberculosis show that it is a disease prevalent in all civilized countries. In some countries, such as the northern part of Norway and Sweden, on the steppes of eastern Europe and Russia, in Sicily and Iceland, and in Algiers, it is said to be quite rare. The returns from testing British cattle with tuberculin, supplied by the Royal Veterinary College, as stated in March, 1900, showed that among 15,392 animals tested 4,105, or 26 per cent, reacted. During the slaughter of cattle for pleuropneumonia careful examinations of the carcasses were made for tuberculosis. Of 300 head killed near Edinburgh 120, or 40 per cent, were tuberculous. Of 4,160 killed in England 20 per cent were tuberculous. Of one of these lots of cattle (451 animals) the president of the Lancashire Farmers' Association testified that they were fairly representative cattle--cows, heifers, and growing stock--a thoroughly mixed lot; 20 per cent of them had tuberculosis. Of 398 bovine animals taken haphazard in the city of Manchester, 120, or 30 per cent, were tuberculous. Among them were 168 cows, 69, or 41 per cent, being tuberculous, and 2 having diseased udders. The result of testing the Queen's herd at Windsor was that 36 out of 40, or 90 per cent, were found tuberculous. The investigations made by the British Dairy Farmers' Association deserve particular attention, coming as they do directly from a cattle owners' organization. The council of this association "resolved to submit the general consideration of the question to a committee, with a view to some more definite understanding as to the possible extent to which tuberculosis exists in dairy cattle." The secretary was instructed to write to a number of dairy farmers being members of the association, asking their cooperation and the use of their herds for the application of the tests. Of the herds offered, 9 were selected, containing 461 cows and 12 bulls, and 188 of these animals reacted, being 40.8 per cent. There were among these cattle 335 Shorthorns, of which 119, or 35 per cent, reacted; 67 crossbreds, of which 28, or 42 per cent, reacted; 47 Ayrshires, of which 37, or 80 per cent, reacted. Another experiment of much interest is that of the Cheshire County Council. The technical instruction committee set aside £250 to be used by a joint committee from the agricultural and horticultural schools and Worleson Dairy Institute for applying the tuberculin test to their herds. The tests were made February 15, 1899. The results were: Worleson herd of 54 animals, 16 diseased, or 29.6 per cent; agricultural school herd of 17 animals, 4 diseased, or 23.5 per cent. The Worleson herd consisted of Shorthorn cows. In each herd the purebred Shorthorn bull was tuberculous. The results of the tuberculin test were confirmed by the slaughter of the animals and examination of the carcasses. Sir T. D. G. Carmichael, member of Parliament for Midlothian, gave evidence before the royal commission that his Polled Angus herd was tested in the spring of 1895. "The results of the test were fearfully unexpected and alarming." Of 30 tested 13 showed decided reaction--43 per cent. Again, he speaks of having 41 animals tested the same spring and 16 reacted--39.5 per cent. Of 80 Shorthorn cattle intended for export which were tested 34 reacted, or 42 per cent. Of a herd of 25 British Shorthorns recently tested in quarantine 40 per cent were found tuberculous. The addition of these animals above referred to gives 20,930 head examined and 5,441, or 26 per cent, pronounced tuberculous. And these herds were not selected because they were supposed to be tuberculous, but represent the general cattle stock of the country. These animals included at least 470 head of Shorthorns, of which 170, or 34 per cent, were tuberculous. To these facts may be added the evidence of Prof. Bang that in the first half of the nineteenth century tuberculosis was brought to Denmark by cattle from Switzerland, Schleswig, and England, and that the same thing is now going on in Sweden and Norway, particularly through English cattle. Also the evidence of M. Sivori, chief of section at the ministry of agriculture, Argentina, who has investigated tuberculosis in that country and who says that "30 or 40 years ago tuberculosis was unknown in Argentine cattle, and it is still unknown among the native (criollo) cattle. Its appearance dates from the introduction of pure breeding animals. Statistics prove that tuberculosis is observed among the grades--above all among those of the Durham and less among the Hereford." Moreover, the reports of the royal commission of Victoria, Australia, and of the New Zealand department of agriculture show a large proportion of tuberculous cattle in those colonies, where the disease was almost certainly carried by British cattle. In the same manner that tuberculosis has been carried from Great Britain to Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Argentina, and Australia, it has also been taken to Canada. In one herd of imported cattle slaughtered in the Canadian quarantine station, 13 of the 14 animals were found tuberculous. One of the largest Shorthorn herds in Canada was some time ago tested because an animal from it was condemned when offered for shipment to the United States. This herd was found to be very badly affected, and an effort is being made to eradicate the disease by the Bang method. A Canadian official publication says of another Shorthorn herd, which at one time had a very high reputation, that when an investigation in regard to tuberculosis was recently made the disease was found among ordinary cattle wherever animals from this herd had been introduced, and that this herd, which had been looked upon as one of the greatest benefits to the farming community, was really a danger, because it disseminated tuberculosis among the farmers' herds. Still another well-known herd recently attracted attention because four animals from it offered for export to the United States were all tuberculous. From December 23, 1900, to February 19, 1901, the period that the department inspector tested all Canadian cattle intended for shipment to the United States, 140 purebred Shorthorns and 3 Shorthorn grades were tested, and of the total number 26, or 18 per cent, reacted. During the first month that this inspection was enforced, and when it may be assumed that the condition of the cattle most nearly represented what it had previously been, 74 cattle were offered for importation, and 18, or 24.3 per cent, were found tuberculous. In justice to Shorthorn cattle it should be said in this connection that they are probably no more susceptible to tuberculosis than are other breeds, but the disease has been allowed to spread in certain herds and families to such an extent as to give a wrong impression concerning the breed as a whole. The slaughterhouse statistics of Prussia show 14.6 per cent of the cattle and 2.14 per cent of the hogs to be tuberculous. In Saxony the percentage is 29.13 with cattle and 3.10 with hogs. In the city of Leipzig the figures are 36.4 for cattle and 2.17 for hogs. (Siedamgrotzky.) Of 20,850 animals in Belgium tested with tuberculin in 1896, 48.88 per cent reacted. (Stubbe.) Of 25,439 tested in Denmark from 1893 to 1895, 49.3 per cent reacted; and of 67,263 tested from 1896 to 1898, 32.8 per cent reacted. (Bang.) Figures available in the United States allow us to make a reliable estimate of the extent of tuberculosis of cattle. The following summary is presented: _Statistics of tests for tuberculosis in the United States, 1917 to March 1, 1922._ -----------------------+---------+------------+------------- State. | Number | Number | Per cent | tested. |tuberculous.|tuberculous. -----------------------+---------+------------+------------- Alabama | 68,772 | 1,071 | 1.6 Arkansas | 5,917 | 98 | 1.7 Colorado | 1,959 | 76 | 3.9 Connecticut | 29,286 | 4,695 | 16.0 Delaware | 19,003 | 2,132 | 11.2 Florida | 56,533 | 1,438 | 2.5 Georgia | 46,522 | 998 | 2.1 Idaho | 57,731 | 1,052 | 1.8 Illinois | 92,781 | 6,112 | 6.6 Indiana | 142,833 | 3,991 | 2.8 Iowa | 158,514 | 9,958 | 6.3 Kansas | 64,341 | 1,796 | 2.8 Kentucky | 66,839 | 1,492 | 2.2 Louisiana | 36,391 | 981 | 2.7 Maine | 67,406 | 1,792 | 2.7 Maryland | 65,888 | 5,491 | 8.3 Massachusetts | 26,297 | 2,371 | 9.0 Michigan | 163,323 | 5,361 | 3.3 Minnesota | 240,888 | 7,555 | 3.1 Mississippi | 99,245 | 503 | .5 Missouri | 196,208 | 2,587 | 1.3 Montana | 165,640 | 3,346 | 2.0 Nebraska | 125,162 | 3,947 | 3.2 Nevada | 29,541 | 1,042 | 3.5 New Hampshire | 16,623 | 1,697 | 10.2 New Jersey | 32,184 | 2,542 | 7.9 New Mexico | 3,897 | 39 | 1.0 New York | 167,852 | 23,071 | 13.7 North Carolina | 64,008 | 1,098 | 1.7 North Dakota | 139,501 | 4,142 | 3.0 Ohio | 97,612 | 4,470 | 4.6 Oklahoma | 67,522 | 2,453 | 3.6 Oregon | 123,792 | 2,581 | 2.1 Pennsylvania | 102,465 | 6,322 | 6.2 Rhode Island | 3,458 | 338 | 9.8 South Carolina | 41,868 | 740 | 1.8 South Dakota | 43,433 | 2,353 | 5.4 Tennessee | 63,631 | 956 | 1.5 Texas | 61,956 | 1,256 | 2.0 Utah | 59,711 | 586 | 1.0 Vermont | 160,361 | 11,486 | 7.2 Virginia | 135,677 | 3,881 | 2.9 Washington | 154,292 | 3,864 | 2.5 West Virginia | 36,603 | 798 | 2.2 Wisconsin | 285,269 | 8,166 | 2.9 Wyoming | 22,811 | 322 | 1.4 -----------------------+---------+------------+------------- Reports of tuberculin tests made on 400,000 cattle in the United States during the years 1893 to 1908 by Federal, State, and other officers with tuberculin prepared by the Bureau of Animal Industry show 37,008 reactions, or 9.25 per cent. These were mostly dairy cattle, and in some cases herds were suspected of being diseased. Later reports of tuberculin tests made in the United States from July 1, 1917, to March 1, 1922, on 3,911,546 cattle by State, county, and Federal officers engaged in cooperative tuberculosis eradication work showed 153,046 reactions, or 3.9 per cent. All cattle in the District of Columbia, numbering 1,701, were tested with tuberculin in 1909-10, and 18.87 per cent reacted. In 1909-11 herds in Maryland and Virginia supplying milk to the District of Columbia were tested, with 19.03 and 15.38 per cent of reactions, respectively, among 4,501 cattle. All cattle in the District of Columbia were tuberculin tested in 1920-21, numbering 1,313, and 5 animals reacted, or 0.4 per cent, demonstrating that tuberculosis may be eradicated from all the herds in a circumscribed area. The beef cattle of the United States show a much smaller proportion of the disease than dairy cattle, though the percentage of cattle found tuberculous in the Government meat-inspection service has increased considerably in recent years. This increase is due partly, but not wholly, to more stringent inspection. Of 7,781,030 adult cattle slaughtered under Federal inspection during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911, 76,448 were found tuberculous, a percentage of 0.98. From the statistics above referred to, and other data, it appears that in the more densely populated areas of Europe and America from 5 to 50 per cent of the dairy cattle are more or less affected with tuberculosis, while the proportion of beef cattle affected is distinctly less, ranging from 0.14 to 30 per cent. This difference is due to a number of causes. Beef cattle average younger when slaughtered. They are not so frequently stabled, and are for that reason less liable to infection, and as the males constitute a large proportion of this class of animals the effect of milk secretion in lowering the vital forces is not so apparent. In the United States it has been estimated that about 10 per cent of the dairy cattle are tuberculous, while only about 2 per cent of the beef cattle are so infected. _Cause and nature of the disease._--The cause of tuberculosis is the tubercle bacillus, which gains entrance to the body, lodges somewhere in the tissues, and begins to grow and multiply at that point. As this bacillus vegetates and increases in numbers it excretes substances which act as irritants and poisons and which lead to the formation of a small nodule, called a tubercle, at the point of irritation. As the bacilli are disseminated through the animal body they affect many parts and cause the formation of an enormous number of tubercles. By the union of such tubercles, masses of tubercular material are formed, which in some cases are of great size. The disease is called tuberculosis because it is characterized by the formation of these peculiar nodules, and the bacillus which causes the disease is for the same reason known technically as the _Mycobacterium tuberculosis._ There are undoubtedly predisposing conditions which contribute toward the development of the disease; some of these are found in the animal body and others in the environment. An enfeebled condition caused by insufficient feed, exposure to great extremes of atmospheric temperature and insanitary surroundings, or the drain occasioned by heavy production of milk, appear to aid the development of the bacillus, and there is also a special individual susceptibility in some cases which may be otherwise described as