,,university ,,of ,,illinois ,agricultural ,experiment ,station ,,bulletin ,,no4 #aeb ,,contagious ,,abortion ,,of ,,cows ,,by ,w4 ,j4 ,,macneal ,,in ,,cooperation ,,with ,,herbert ,w4 ,,mumford ,illustration ,,urbana1 ,,illinois1 ,,november1 #aiaa ,,summary ,,of ,,bulletin ,,no4 #aeb #a4 ,the existence of a specific contagious disease causing abortion in cows has been recognized for a long time1 and it is certain that the disease known abroad as infectious or contagious abortion is also prevalent in the ,united ,states4 #b4 ,the infectious agent is a bacterium first described by the ,danish investigators1 ,bang and ,stribolt4 ,this microorganism has been isolated from aborting cows in various ,european countries and in the ,united ,states4 #c4 ,bacteriological examination of afterbirths from aborting cows at this ,station revealed the presence of this germ4 #d4 ,to eradicate the disease from a herd1 the affected cows should be isolated1 and their genital passages cleansed once or twice daily with an antiseptic solution until all discharge has ceased1 when they may be returned to the herd2 all infectious material 7afterbirth and discharges7 should be burned2 infected stalls should be cleaned and disinfected2 the sheath of the herd bull should be cleansed with a disinfectant solution before and after service1 and a separate1 clean bull should be used for heifers and clean cows4 ,,contagious ,,abortion ,,of ,,cows ,,by ,w4 ,j4 ,,macneal1 ,,assistant ,,chief ,,in ,,bacteriology1 ,,in ,,cooperation ,,with ,,herbert ,w4 ,,mumford1 ,,chief ,,in ,,animal ,,husbandry ,,introduction ,the premature discharge of the products of conception from the uterus is a not infrequent occurrence among domestic animals1 and doubtless various factors may from time to time operate in its causation4 ,for a long time1 however1 practical husbandmen have recognized an epizootic or contagious kind of abortion1 a definite transmissible disease in which the loss of the fetus is the most prominent characteristic4 ,the transmissibility of contagious abortion of cows appears to have been demonstrated experimentally for the first time by ,brauer4 ,experimental transmission has been performed by a number of investigators subsequently1 the work of ,nocard 7#ahhf7 furnishing conclusive evidence upon this point4 ,it is certain that a disease1 or possibly more than one disease1 of this nature is a source of serious loss to the live stock industry in the ,united ,states1 and there can no longer be any doubt that a considerable part of this loss is due to the definite specific disease prevalent on the continent of ,europe and in ,england1 and known as ,contagious1 ,infectious1 or ,epizootic ,abortion4 ,the purpose of this bulletin is the brief presentation of some of the facts concerning the cause1 prevention and restriction of this disease1 which have been established by modern investigation1 for the information of men engaged in live stock production4 ,,bacteriological ,,investigations ,,elsewhere ,nocard carried out the first extensive bacteriological investigation of contagious abortion4 ,in microscopic preparations of the diseased placenta he was able to recognize numerous short bacilli and micrococci4 ,these were also found in the amniotic fluid4 ,he obtained pure cultures of these two organisms1 but failed to induce abortion upon inoculating these cultures into other animals4 ,neither of the germs obtained in culture could therefore be regarded as the causative agent in the disease4 ,in #ahie ,bang and ,stribolt undertook the investigation of this disease1 and their results are now generally regarded as the most important of all the contributions to the study of this subject4 ,a cow showing all the symptoms of impending abortion was purchased and slaughtered4 ,the unopened uterus was removed to the laboratory where it was opened with special precautions to avoid all contamination4 ,an abundant1 grayish yellow1 odorless exudate was found between the ovum and the inner wall of the uterus4 ,upon standing this exudate separated into two layers1 a reddish yellow serum above1 and a grayish yellow partly solid layer below4 ,in microscopic preparations of this exudate1 stained with ,loeffler's methylene blue1 numerous very small bacilli were found1 apparently in pure culture1 some of them lying free1 but large numbers of them crowded together inside cells4 ,these latter appeared at first to be micrococci1 but more careful examination proved them to be really short rods4 ,bang and ,stribolt were able to cultivate this organism in tubes of a gelatin-agar-serum medium1 the germ developing only in a particular zone beginning about #e mm4 beneath the surface of the medium and extending downward #aj to #ae mm4 ,after considerable work with cultures1 they concluded that the bacillus is neither an aerobe nor an anaerobe1 in the ordinary sense1 but exhibits a very peculiar behavior in respect to oxygen1 requiring for its development a partial pressure of oxygen somewhat less than that present in the atmosphere4 ,they were unable to obtain growth of the germ in the presence of the ordinary atmosphere1 nor in the absence of oxygen 7,pyrogallol method74 ,curiously enough1 by placing their tube cultures in an atmosphere of pure oxygen1 they obtained cultures developing in two zones1 one near the top and the other near the bottom of the tube1 indicating that there are two optima in the oxygen requirement of the organism4 ,this very interesting character of the organism received great attention at their hands1 but nevertheless ,bang points out that typical development such as he has pictured was not always obtained1 a number of factors seeming to cause variation in the position and extent of the developmental zones in these tube cultures4 ,by exhausting the air above the medium in the tube1 the growth was made to extend to the surface4 ,in this way they were able to obtain growth of the bacillus on plates1 but they did not work out a reliable plate method1 preferring to employ the dilution tube cultures for separation in all their work4 ,bang and ,stribolt subsequently examined pieces of placenta from a large number of cases of contagious abortion1 and found the bacillus microscopically in practically all cases4 ,sometimes they were abundant1 in other instances very scarce4 ,most of this material was badly contaminated1 yet1 from that sent in during the colder season they successfully isolated the bacillus in pure culture in a majority of the cases4 ,in three fetuses the bacillus was found in the intestinal contents in pure culture2 in one fetus it was isolated from the blood4 ,two cows with mummified fetus in utero were examined post mortem4 ,these fetuses had been dead #i months and #e months respectively but the surrounding exudate still contained the abortion bacillus and pure cultures of it were obtained from each case4 ,uterine exudate kept in the refrigerator still contained living abortion bacilli after seven months4 ,having found the same bacillus microscopically in a series of cases of abortion1 and having obtained it in pure culture from a number of them1 it now remained for ,bang and ,stribolt to produce the disease by inoculation of these cultures into healthy animals4 ,four pregnant cows were obtained without knowledge of their previous history4 ,two of them were inoculated by intravaginal application of pure cultures1 and two by intravaginal application of pieces of afterbirth from aborting cows4 ,no abortion resulted in any of the cows and at slaughter #ai to #bi days after inoculation1 there was no evidence of the disease4 ,this result was surprising1 as ,brauer had induced abortion by the second of the above-mentioned procedures in from #i to #ba days1 ,lehnert in from #ab to #bj days1 and ,trinchera in #i to #ac days4 ,the authors thought that the animals may have been immune on account of a previous attack of the disease1 or that possibly the interval between innoculation and slaughter 7#ai to #bi days7 may have been too brief for the disease to have developed4 ,for the next experiment two cows were purchased from a region where abortion was unknown4 ,pregnancy began ,january #ad and ,january #af1 #ahif4 ,on ,april #ad1 a rich culture of the abortion bacillus was injected well up into the anterior end of the vaginal canal of each of these cows4 ,the inoculation was repeated in the same way on ,may #bc1 and again on ,june #d4 ,one cow aborted ,june #bd1 the fetus evidently having been dead some days4 ,the abortion bacillus was isolated from the afterbirth4 ,the other cow showed the signs of impending abortion on ,june #bc1 and was slaughtered on ,june #bd4 ,the condition inside the uterus resembled in every respect that observed in the cow from which the original culture had been isolated1 and the bacillus was present in pure culture4 ,in these cows the disease had appeared #aj weeks after the first inoculation4 ,a third cow was inoculated by intravaginal application ,january #ai1 #ahig1 and subcutaneously ,march #f1 in both instances with pure cultures of the bacillus4 ,premature delivery of a living calf occurred ,april #i1 #hj days after the first inoculation4 ,abortion was also caused in sheep by intravaginal application and by intravenous injection of pure cultures4 ,inoculation by the latter method proved to be more certain in these animals1 and the incubation period after intravenous injection was only #g days in one case and #ab days in another4 ,intravenous inoculation of a mare resulted in a premature delivery after #bh days4 ,in all these cases the bacillus was recovered from the afterbirth4 ,in #aijb1 ,preisz at ,budapest isolated the same bacillus from two cases of contagious abortion in cows4 ,he confirmed the findings of ,bang in respect to the oxygen requirements of the organism1 and was able to obtain cultures by a variety of methods on ordinary media4 ,apparently his cultures were less vigorous than those of ,bang1 for they soon died out1 their resistance to germicides was slight1 and all his inoculations into animals1 including two pregnant cows1 two pregnant guinea pigs1 and one pregnant rabbit1 as well as a number of other small animals1 were without positive result4 ,preisz named the organism ,corynebacterium abortus endemici 7s4 infectiosi74 ,in #aijh1 ,nowak at the ,university of ,krakau in ,austria made a very important contribution to the study of this disease4 ,he found the culture method of ,bang and ,stribolt very useful for the identification of the organism when obtainable in pure culture1 and when the contaminating bacteria were few in number4 ,when other bacteria were numerous1 as is frequently the case in material obtained for examination1 he found this method difficult4 ,the pyrogallol method of ,preisz also proved to be unreliable in his hands4 ,eventually he devised a method of plate culture which proved to be very useful4 ,ordinary agar was melted and cooled to #ej deg4 ,c4 then mixed with about one fourth its volume of naturally sterile blood serum1 and poured into sterile ,petri dishes where it was allowed to solidify4 ,the piece of placenta or other material to be examined was then streaked over several of these plates in succession1 and the plates were incubated for #bd hours at #cg deg4 ,c41 to allow contaminating bacteria to develop4 ,the plates were next placed in a glass jar together with a culture of ,bacillus subtilis1 one square centimeter of culture surface of the latter organism being provided for each #ae cc4 capacity of the jar4 ,the jar was sealed and placed at #cg deg4 ,c4 for three days1 at the end of which time excellent surface colonies of ,bang's bacillus were obtained4 ,by the application of this method ,nowak has succeeded in isolating the bacillus from the blood and intestinal contents of a number of fetuses1 and from uterine discharge1 when other methods failed4 ,he has also observed that one could gradually decrease the amount of culture surface of ,b4 subtilis employed in succeeding cultures and eventually get the bacillus of ,bang to grow in the presence of atmospheric air1 altho the cultures were relatively poor ones4 ,nowak also confirmed ,bang by obtaining cultures in an atmosphere of nearly pure oxygen1 as well as in ordinary air under a pressure of three atmospheres4 ,his cultures were evidently vigorous for some of them were successfully transplanted after two years4 ,nowak used ordinary agar as a medium with considerable success1 and found glucose agar to be almost as favorable to the growth of the bacillus4 ,for the detection of the germ in pathological material1 however1 these media proved to be inferior to the serum-agar mixture in several cases4 ,cultures were obtained in broth and in milk without coagulation1 contrary to the statement of ,preisz4 ,no gas was produced in sugar broth4 ,nowak inoculated a number of pregnant laboratory animals1 and produced abortion with great regularity in guinea pigs and rabbits by subcutaneous1 intravenous and intraperitoneal injection4 ,he did not succeed in producing abortion by intravaginal application nor by feeding4 ,no tests were made upon larger animals much to his regret1 as in his opinion the experiments of ,bang upon cows still left something to be desired in the way of experimental evidence4 ,mc,fadyean and ,stockman 7#aiji7 have investigated the contagious abortion of cattle in ,great ,britain1 and have found it to be identical with that studied by ,bang in ,denmark4 ,they were able to produce the disease in cows by intravenous injection of natural virus and of active pure cultures1 without a failure in eight experiments4 ,by intravaginal application they caused the disease twice with cultures and three times with natural virus1 but also failed to obtain any result in three trials with the natural virus4 ,subcutaneous inoculation was successful three times in five trials4 ,by feeding they produced the disease three times in four trials4 ,these authors consider ingestion to be an important mode of contracting contagious abortion in nature4 ,zwick 7#aiaj7 has made a preliminary report of the bacteriological investigation of contagious abortion at the ,german ,imperial ,health ,office4 ,by a comparative study of cultures1 the unity of the disease in ,denmark1 ,germany1 ,england1 and ,holland has been established4 ,certain individual differences were detected in the various culture strains examined1 and it was found that the bacillus could be readily cultivated upon various ordinary laboratory media1 and that it could also adapt itself to an aerobic existence1 thus confirming the work of ,nowak4 ,in one instance the bacillus grew aerobically immediately upon isolation from the animal body4 ,abortion was induced in sheep1 goats1 and rabbits by intravenous injection1 intravaginal application1 and also by feeding4 ,work upon the use of abortin 7analogous to tuberculin7 for diagnosis1 and upon the agglutination and complement fixation tests1 was in progress at the time the report was made4 ,,bacteriological ,,observations ,,and ,,experiments ,,at ,,this ,,station ,in the ,united ,states contagious abortion is widespread1 and has been recognized for a number of years by practical husbandmen as an important economic factor in animal industry4 ,epidemiological studies have recently been reported from ,arizona and ,connecticut4 ,at the ,illinois ,agricultural ,experiment ,station the beef cattle herd has suffered considerable loss from abortion for several years past1 and the presence of contagious abortion had been recognized by ,professor ,mumford1 altho this diagnosis was disputed by other authorities4 ,in order to settle the question it seemed best to undertake a bacteriological study of the disease4 ,this seemed the more desirable because1 so far as we have ascertained1 there was no known microorganism generally recognized and accepted as the cause of the disease in this country1 the bacillus described by ,bang having been found only in ,europe and his work having failed to be confirmed by ,american investigators4 ,altogether eighteen parturient cows have been examined bacteriologically4 ,ten of these calved at term and the births appeared to be normal4 ,the abortion bacillus was not found in any of these4 ,eight were cases of premature delivery1 and of these1 six appeared clinically to be cases of contagious abortion4 ,placental tissue from two of these cases was examined by the ,nowak plate method and a bacillus isolated1 apparently identical with that isolated by ,bang in ,denmark and by ,nowak in ,austria4 ,the organism is a very small short rod1 usually oval in shape1 from #j4h mu to #b4j mu long by #j4g mu wide1 practically always single1 rarely in short threads of two to four cells4 ,it is not motile1 and does not form spores4 ,it stains with moderate rapidity with the ordinary anilin dyes1 and is decolorized by ,gram's method4 ,the colonies on serum-agar are raised1 with smooth circular borders1 appearing almost like drops of dew4 ,they are transparent and very clear1 with a bluish gray color by transmitted light4 ,under the microscope a few coarse granules may be seen near the center of the colony but the greater part of it appears very homogenous and almost water-clear4 ,the appearance of the colony is really a very characteristic feature of the organism and enables one to distinguish readily the colony of the abortion bacillus from other colonies on the serum-agar plates4 ,the behavior toward oxygen is another character upon which considerable reliance may be placed in the identification of strains recently isolated from the animal body4 ,this is tested by transplanting the colonies from the serum-agar plates to two series of agar streak sub-cultures1 of which one series is incubated in the atmospheric air and the other in the closed jar together with cultures of ,b4 subtilis4 ,unless the growth under the latter condition is much better than the growth outside the jar1 the culture may be discarded as one not belonging to this species4 ,a final important test in identification is that of pathogenicity4 ,nowak induced abortion in pregnant guinea pigs with great regularity by subcutaneous1 intraperitoneal1 and intravenous injection of pure cultures of the abortion bacillus4 ,so far1 four pregnant guinea pigs have been inoculated subcutaneously with the pure cultures isolated by us1 and the inoculation has been followed by premature evacuation of the uterus with death of the fetuses in #c-a_/b #h1 #f1 and #g days respectively4 ,in the first guinea pig the two fetuses were practically fully developed and covered with hair4 ,in this instance the abortion bacillus was isolated only from the subcutaneous tissue of the mother at the point of inoculation1 the cultures from the uterus1 the placenta1 and the fetuses remaining negative4 ,in the other three cases the fetuses were undeveloped and the condition was that of a true abortion4 ,in these instances the abortion bacillus was demonstrated by culture tests at the point of inoculation in pure culture in two1 in mixed culture in the other one2 in the interior of the uterus in pure culture in all three2 in each of the four placentae of two cases in mixed culture1 as these placentae had been passed some time before they were found1 and in the three placentae of the other case in pure culture2 in the livers of all three fetuses of the one case in pure culture1 but not in the other four fetuses2 in the heart blood of the mother in pure culture in one case1 but not in the other two cases4 ,in all these tests the mother guinea pig was killed by chloroform soon after the abortion had occurred4 ,from the results of these tests we have concluded that the bacillus isolated by us from aborting cows is identical with that isolated by ,bang and by ,nowak4 ,further1 the investigations of ,bang1 ,preisz1 ,nowak1 ,mc,fadyean and ,stockman1 and ,zwick1 seem to justify the acceptance of this organism as the infectious agent in the contagious abortion of cattle4 ,the principles of bacteriological nomenclature have not as yet been universally adopted1 and most of the investigators quoted in this paper have avoided the use of a specific name for the abortion bacillus4 ,bang himself seems not to have given it a binomial designation1 but he repeatedly employed the term ,abortusbacillus as a specific term4 ,chester 7#aija7 has named the organism ,bacterium abortivum with the synonym ,bacillus of contagious abortion in cows1 ,bang4 ,preisz 7#aijb7 suggested the name ,corynebacterium abortus endemici 7s4 infectiousi74 ,this generic name ,corynebacterium appears to be incorrect1 as the organism is very different from those to which this name has been previously applied4 ,it would seem best to employ the more general term ,bacillus 7or ,bacterium7 as a confessedly temporary generic name until a more definite generic nomenclature of bacteria shall have been developed and generally adopted4 ,in determining the specific name it would seem that the term ,abortusbacillus employed by its discoverer as early as #aijg should receive first consideration4 ,we#a have therefore suggested the name ,bacillus 7or ,bacterium7 abortus1 ,bang1 for this organism4 ,the term abortus1 being in the genitive case1 may be employed with either generic term4 ,,footnote3 ,footnote #a3 ,mac,neal and ,kerr1 #aiaj4 ,,restriction ,,and ,,eradication ,,of ,,the ,,disease ,reliable methods for restricting the spread of contagious abortion and for eradicating it from a herd may be expected as the result of more complete and accurate knowledge of the nature of the disease and its mode of spread4 ,some of these methods1 such as that of artificial immunization1 are being tested experimentally by the ,departmental ,committee appointed by the ,british ,board of ,agriculture and ,fisheries to inquire into ,epizootic ,abortion4 ,until these methods have been developed beyond the experimental stage1 the older more or less empirical methods will have to be relied upon4 ,fortunately these older methods can now be subjected to careful scrutiny in the light of modern knowledge of the disease1 and they have been studied in this way by the ,british ,committee mentioned above4 ,the following summary has been copied1 with only slight abridgment and very few alterations1 from the report of this ,committee4 ,the methods which have been relied upon in the past for the prevention of abortion and its eradication from a herd are3-- 7#a7 ,periodical spraying of the external genital organs and hind quarters with disinfectant solutions4 7#b7 ,isolation of animals as soon as they show the premonitory signs of abortion4 7#c7 ,internal administration of carbolic acid to animals supposed to be infected or exposed to infection4 7#d7 ,irrigation of the genital organs of animals which have aborted with antiseptic solutions4 7#e7 ,removal and disposal of animals which have aborted4 7#f7 ,the keeping of a special bull for serving animals which have aborted1 or1 what is based on the same idea1 the disinfection of the external genital organs of the bull with antiseptic solutions after he has served such a cow4 7#g7 ,destruction of the abortion membranes1 and disinfection of the parts of the buildings1 litter1 etc41 with which the infective material has come in contact4 7#h7 ,the keeping of a goat1 especially a male goat1 in a byre with the cows4 ,it cannot be said of the above measures that either singly or collectively they have brought about any material improvement in the general condition of our herds in relation to abortion4 ,according to reports1 decided improvements have been effected in individual herds by the adoption of isolation and disinfection1 while in others very little has been accomplished4 ,some of the above methods are founded on nothing more than ignorant empiricism1 while others are based upon pathological and physiological considerations which are only partially correct in their applications4 ,since most of them have obtained a certain amount of hold1 at least on the minds of stockowners1 it may be useful to discuss each measure separately in the light of our recent investigations4 ,spraying of the ,external ,genital ,organs4--,this is a procedure which probably has little or no value4 7,abridged47 ,isolation of ,animals as soon as they show ,signs of ,abortion4--,the necessity for this measure is obvious1 and its importance cannot be too much insisted on4 ,an infected animal only becomes infective to others immediately before the act of abortion1 and may remain so for some weeks afterwards4 ,however1 only a proportion of the affected animals show premonitory signs1 and quite a number may abort amongst their companions without warning4 ,under such conditions1 then1 measures of immediate isolation lose much of their undoubted theoretical value1 owing to the difficulty in the way of carrying them out in practice4 ,there is not likely to be any serious difficulty in diagnosing the bacterial disease after an act of abortion1 even in an isolated case1 if the membranes are available in a reasonably fresh state4 7,abridged47 ,isolation of the affected animals1 however1 must be complete before and after the act to be of any real value4 ,having regard to what appears to be the most common form of infection1 viz41 by ingestion1 we do not think that anything material is to be gained by merely putting all the cows about to abort and those which have aborted at the lower end of a byre1 so that the infective discharges may not come in contact with the external genital organs of their fellows1 unless we assume that infection frequently takes place by an animal licking virulent material from a part of its body where it has been deposited by flicks of the tail which has been contaminated by lying in the gutter behind the stalls4 ,internal ,administration of ,carbolic ,acid4--,the uselessness of carbolic acid and other antiseptics as curative agents has already been referred to4 ,as a preventive agent by internal administration we believe carbolic acid to be equally useless4 ,even if it were possible to administer very large doses of this poisonous substance1 one could not expect to be able to give enough to destroy the bacilli which have been swallowed and mixed with the contents of the enormous stomachs and intestines1 and it would be equally hopeless to expect to destroy in this way the bacilli which have already reached the womb4 ,this alleged measure of prevention must be regarded as an absurdity which has gained a certain amount of support owing to observations carelessly collated and carelessly interpreted4 ,irrigation of the ,genital ,passages after ,abortion4--,with the act of abortion the greater part of the uterine exudate is immediately ejected4 ,that some of it remains behind for a short period is certain1 since we were able to demonstrate abortion bacilli in material obtained from the vagina of a heifer three days after she had aborted4 ,on the other hand1 no abortion bacilli could be found in the uterus of another heifer a month after she had aborted4 ,it seems probable that1 as a rule1 the genital organs cleanse themselves by natural means a comparatively short time after abortion has taken place4 ,almost immediately after abortion and expulsion of the membranes the uterus contracts1 and its internal surfaces come into apposition4 ,its condition is such that it would not be possible to force fluid into it with a pump from the vagina4 ,apart then1 from the probability that disinfection of the uterus by antiseptics is not necessary to rid the organ of abortion bacilli1 we are of opinion that it is futile to attempt it by irrigation methods4 ,so long as a discharge continues to come from the genital passages1 we think that for hygienic and therapeutic reasons they ought to be cleansed once or twice by the intravaginal injection of tepid antiseptic solutions1 such as a #b per cent solution of carbolic acid or a #a in #c1jjj solution of corrosive sublimate1 but not on the ground that the injections will disinfect the uterus4 ,we are of opinion that it will seldom be necessary to continue the injections for more than a month1 and that after three months there should be small risk in putting the cow to the bull1 provided she is afterwards protected from fresh infection4 ,removal and disposal of ,animals which have aborted4--,it is quite a prevalent custom to feed for the butcher cows which have aborted4 ,it is also customary to sell such cows alive in the open market4 ,the second custom we consider likely to introduce disease to other establishments1 unless the animals have ceased to discharge2 they should1 we think1 be kept for at least three months after abortion before being sent for sale4 ,the first custom is less objectionable than the second1 but we think that a breeder will be more likely to get rid of abortion from his herds by keeping such animals than by disposing of them and bringing in new ones before his entire herd is free from the disease4 ,there can be no doubt that in most cases an attack of the disease greatly increases an animal's resistance to future attacks1 and that in a large proportion of the affected1 probably in the majority1 this resistance is sufficient to fortify them against infection during their next pregnancy4 ,it is beyond doubt that a considerable proportion may abort twice in succession1 but it is not improbable that inoculation methods may now be successfully employed to exalt their resistance4 ,in the midst of infection there is no better guarantee against the disease than the possession of an immune stock1 and for this reason we consider that on infected premises the animals which have already aborted are to be looked upon as valuable assets for purposes of eradication1 much more valuable than the new and susceptible animals brought in4 ,we find1 however1 that a small proportion of cows will not hold to the bull for an indefinite period after abortion1 and it may be found better to fatten off such animals1 unless they are of high value4 ,the ,keeping of a ,special ,bull for ,cows which have aborted4--,we have already stated that we do not consider the bull a factor of the first importance in the dissemination of abortion but that infection by means of a contaminated bull must be looked upon as a distinct possibility4 ,we think1 therefore1 that there is something to be said in favor of keeping a bull for the service of cows which have aborted1 and1 when that is not possible1 of disinfecting the external genital organs of the bull after he has served such cows4 ,of course1 if the cows can be immunized the same bull might be used for all4 ,we do not think that cows from a clean establishment should be sent even to a clean bull on infected premises1 and it is also inadvisable that cows from infected premises should be sent to a bull on a clean establishment4 ,destruction of ,virulent ,material and disinfection of everything contaminated by it4--,the immediate disinfection of the virulent materials and contaminated objects is of great importance1 more especially as it appears that the natural virus may remain active for a long time outside the body4 ,the soiled litter1 dung1 exudate1 membranes1 and fetus should all be removed at once1 preferably after they have been treated with caustic lime4 ,after removal they should be soaked in paraffin and burned1 or buried in a deep pit1 preferably the former4 ,on no account should the fetus and membranes be fed to pigs or dogs4 ,when a fetus is aborted alive1 as sometimes happens1 it seldom survives long1 and it is advisable to kill and destroy it1 since it may excrete abundance of virulent material from its intestines if allowed to live4 ,if1 however1 it be decided not to kill it1 it should immediately be isolated4 ,the walls of the stall and the floor should be washed or strewn thickly with caustic lime1 or drenched freely with boiling water4 ,the temperature necessary to kill the bacillus is not great1 and this simple method of disinfection should prove efficacious4 ,lastly1 the boots1 clothing1 and hands of attendants should be disinfected by making use of any reliable disinfectant1 such as #c or #d per cent solution of carbolic acid4 ,the keeping of a ,goat amongst the ,cows4--,this1 we believe can only have had its origin in ignorant superstition1 but we feel bound to mention it1 as the question of its efficacy has quite frequently been seriously put to us4 ,we would point out that goats themselves can be infected with cattle abortion1 and that both male and female goats were on our premises during the greater part of the time occupied with the cattle experiments1 and their presence did not prevent animals from aborting4 ,preventive ,inoculation4--,this is still in the experimental stage and definite results are hoped for4 7,abridged47 ,the ,committee refrained from making any recommendations in regard to measures to be taken by the ,board of ,agriculture and ,fisheries for the prevention of the disease4 ,experience in connection with the beef cattle herd at the ,illinois ,agricultural ,experiment ,station with the methods of isolation1 careful disposal of infected material1 cleaning and disinfection of infected stalls1 antiseptic irrigation of the genital passages of cows which had aborted1 and antiseptic irrigation of the bull before and after service1 together with the use of a special bull for heifers and clean cows1 has been very satisfactory4 ,these measures were applied under the direction of ,professor ,h4 ,w4 ,mumford and ,mr4 ,h4 ,o4 ,allison4 ,during the year previous to the inauguration of these measures a large percentage of the calves were lost by abortion4 ,a decided improvement in respect to the number of calves saved was coincident with the use of the procedures mentioned above4 ,they were applied to each case of abortion as it occurred1 until in the course of two years abortions have become very infrequent and the herd is now considered free from the disease4 ,it should be noted1 however1 that those cows which had aborted were not necessarily disposed of1 but after local irrigation treatment until the discharge had ceased1 they were bred again4 ,some of the improvement in the herd has1 therefore1 doubtless been due merely to the retention of relatively immune cows4 ,altho the experience here has been rather fortunate and the results obtained seem to bear some relation to the employment of the measures deemed worthy by the ,british ,committee1 we hesitate to state that there was any necessary relation between them1 because cattle men have observed somewhat similar improvement in herds without the use of any treatment at all4 ,in other words1 there appears to be a tendency for the disease sometimes to die out in a herd or to become quiescent for a year or two4 ,on the other hand1 the recommendations of the ,british ,committee supported as they seem to be by our local experience1 certainly warrant the recommendation of these measures for use in combating contagious abortion4 ,in any event good results cannot be expected without intelligent1 careful1 and painstaking work1 and it may be that some of the failures in applying these measures have resulted from lack of efficiency in applying them rather than from insufficiency of the measures themselves4 ,references #a4 ,bang4 ,die ,aetiologie des seuchenhaften 7infectioesen7 ,verwertens4 ,ztschr4 f4 ,thiermed4 #a3 #bda-bgh4 #ahig4 #b4 ,board of ,agriculture and ,fisheries 7,great ,britain74 ,report of the ,departmental ,committee to inquire into ,epizootic ,abortion4 ,part #a4 ,epizootic ,abortion in ,cattle4 ,london1 #aiji4 #c4 ,chester4 ,a ,manual of ,determinative ,bacteriology4 #aija4 #d4 ,mc,fadyean and ,stockman4 ,epizootic ,abortion4 ,report4 ,dept4 ,com4 ,bd4 ,agr4 and ,fisheries4 7,gt4 ,brit471 ,appendix to ,part ,i1 #aiji4 ,review in ,expt4 ,sta4 ,record #bb3 #ehd-ehf4 #aiaj4 #e4 ,mac,neal and ,kerr4 ,bacillus abortus of ,bang1 the cause of contagious abortion in cattle4 ,jour4 ,infect4 ,diseases #g3 #dfi-dge 7#aiaj74 #f4 ,nocard1 ,review by ,bang4 ,ztschr4 f4 ,thiermed1 #a3 #bdc-bdf4 #ahig4 #g4 ,nowak4 ,le bacille de ,bang et sa biologie4 ,annales de l',institut ,pasteur #bb3 #eda-edf4 #aijh4 #h4 ,preisz4 ,der ,bacillus des seuchenhaften ,verwerfens4 ,centralbl4 f4 ,bakt4 etc41 ,i ,abt4 ,orig4 #cc3 #aij-aif 7#aijc74 #i4 ,zwick4 ,ueber den ,erreger des infectioesen ,abortus des ,rindes4 ,centralbl4 f4 ,bakt4 etc41 ,beilage zu ,i ,abt4 ,ref4 #dg3 #bai-bbj4 #aiaj4 99 99 99 99 99 ---------------------------------------- ------------------- ,transcriber's ,note3 ,bold text is marked like so in the text version of this document4 ---------------------------------------- ------------------- 99 99 99 99 99