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FARM AND STATION.

ACTINOM YCOSIS IN CATTLE.

Moat farmers will have had brought under their notice at one time or other cages of the cattle disease commonly laown as "Lumpy jaw," but now termed actinomyco&ia. The dieeaae is caused by a paraeite called from its mode of £rovrth the actinomjeese or ray fungus, and by the presence of this fungffi iv the diseased parts this affection i 3 easily diitinguihltd by veterirarians from tubenuloMS and ca'ifcr In certain diblricth of lit gli\nd and Scotland it is a comparatively common disease of cattle, and in Australia the annual stock reportß for the several colonies rotice its existence there. The disease generally attacks the tougue or the bones of the upper or lower jaw. In either of these situations it s' effects are sttious, for the structural alterations which it cau?cs in the tongue or jaw render nmticalion very paiiiful and ultimately impossible. Until recently only a small measure of success attended the treatment of actinomycoeis, but in a certain proportion of tongue cases a cure was effected by revere scarification, followed by the application of a Btrong counterirritant, such as iodine or carbolic acid. A few yea^s ago Professor Thomasfon, of the Utrecht University, reported that he had obtained great success in tbe treatment of the disesse by the internal adminifitr*tion of iodide of potassium, combined with the application of tincture of iodine to tLo effected toDgae. This statement did not attract much attention, because tbe buccobs attained was placed entirely to the credit of the local iodine treatment. Subsequently, however, the professor reported that he had entirely abandoned tbe latter and limited his treatment to the internal adraiuistraiion of the iodide, and that a cure had been effected in every case. More rfc.ully experiments made at the Paris Veterinary College by Profc6for Noeard corroborated Thorpa'son's statement rcanling Ihc cursitivo cff. cts of iodide of i>o(.\>-m jsii io i.eiiuemjeo-is, : nil tLo matter was further les'ed at the R'.y*l Veterinary Coll'g-\ London. A heifer rising three yeare waa admiUcd to the College InOrmary iv October 1892. At thn time her tongue prefented tbe unmistakable appearance of actiuomycos^is. The disease had its seat in ' the lower part of the tongue, which was double j the normDl thickness, " distorted -in shape,' covered with thillow abrrvsions, and extremely hard to the touch." Saliva waa constantly I dribbliDg from the mouth, mastication ap-

peare-J to he vrvv painful, and the auiraa was iv po-r ccnilit on Treatment with iodide of potfs-ium was b"gun on October 15, one drachm being given twice daily in water. The heifer was fed on mashes principally, but was also allowed b>y, of which she could eat bat little. DuriDg the fust 10 days of the treatment there was no noticeable iiuprovsraent in the c-udition of tho tongue, but the animal began to feed befettr. At the closo of tho month it was noted that the indurated part of the tongue felt softer to the touob, and a few days later it was observed that Ihs sores were healing. "On Novumlur 16 the dose of iodide was raised io two drachm? twice dttily, and on November 22 to tl rea diM-chins. The latter desea wee continuftd till November 30, when the medicine was stopped." During tho whole of (he treatment, the r?p'rfc states, fcbe condition of the ttngue atftrdily improved, as did also the appetite atd general condition, saro that the skin became covered with a copious senrf. By the end of Df-cerober the animal was vegftrded as cured, as there was not any evidence of the disease r< curring. But a short time afterwards it was discovered that she was again slavering at tb<j mouth, aud on examination of the Ungue it was found that the dii^ase was returning. She wan therefore again submitted to a course of iodide of pofcabsium treatment, begun on April 5 and continued fill tho 29th. During this period the was given about lib of tbe suit, and the improvement in Ihe state of the tongue was jus's as rapid an iv the first innrarce. Within six weeks' time t v .c disease had apparently, for a second tune, LcL'n cured or arrested. Daring the interval the heifer had become fat, but a3 it was important to ascertain if the cure was crmjl-jte pho was killed, and on post mortem examination it was discovered that, while the tongue was free from actinomyco'-ix, "the glands of the throat were consid. t\.b'y enlargtd and contained a quantity of purulent matter, in which micros- roj>ic examina'iou r«.adily re\ T er<l<-d tho actini myces parasite. The cure therefore had not been complete, aud had tho aninul beeu allowed to live it is very probable that tie disease would have again become active." Sevt ral oilier cares of relapse *f ter the v-dide treatment have Ve-u reported by veterinary j surg. oiip, in somo instances as Jong as 12 months affcr the flrrft atfcvk It ia pus« : ble that many of tho cusps of alleged cure would, if the animiU were submitted to careful postmortem examination, tarn out liko tho one above referred to, bnt aven should such be tbe case the iodide treatment will ftill remain a great success, for previously the disease except by severe surgical treatment co\ild not be even tcrnpjrur'.ly arrested. The worst cusc-s are now so far curable that tbe animals can for a time be made apparent ly aound, aud brought into a condition fit for the butcher. In order to gain further evidence en this poiDt a second case w.-.s tested at the Royal Veterinary College Infirmary. The animal in this inrtance wns a two-year-old bullock, and the disease had its seat in the upper jawbone. When admitted the bullock had a large swelling in this position, mastication was obviously very painful, and in consequence there wns extreme emaciation. The only treitment adopted was the internal administration of iodide of potassium, but during the first month little, if any, improvement was observable. After that the aDimal began to eat better, the swelling iv the jaw diminished in size, and the general condition improved. The improvement continued steadily, and at the end of five months the enlargement of the jaw had all but disappeared, and the animal was fat. As bhowing how readily animal diseases may be transmitted and developed the following facts may be cited. Mr F. L. Gooch, F.R C.V S., of Stamford, England, was engaged to rerrovo tumours from a lob of 21 yearling steers. On examining the beasts he suspected they h&d Ijtvn infecUd with actinomycoMS by means of 'i'tcsis. The tacts communicated by Jlr.Oooch are as follows :— " The whole of the herd were mired on a faroa on the borders of the Feu district, ard in tbe autumn of 1892 thc-y were sent to a farm in Deeping Fen, to be wintered in a straw yard. During tbeir stay here they were all eetoued by an ' empiric ' as a preventive ot ' black quarter,,' and they were brought back to the farm on which they had been reared about the beginning of May, at which time aome of them wire showing signs of enlargod shoulders, and two had largo • wena '

on the jaw. When Mr Qcoch was fhsfc called to boo tho animal* (hi Jalj) he found th»t every one of them was affected in somo degree. Some of tho Batons were still in position, and Bround the seat of operation there were small tumuurs, while a hard cord extended up from tho dewlap to a firm tumour near the shoulder. Under eonibh'ed surgical and medicinal treat* ment (iodide of potassium) all the animals subsequently recovered. Tho unusual seat of the disease, and the fseb tha 1 ) every animal in the herd was effected, hardly admit of any other explanation than that the person who performed the aetoniug operation bad, by some means or ar.othr-r, contaminated the wouudt, probably by means of his bauds or the material with which ho dressed the Bttoas."

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW18950926.2.10

Bibliographic details

Otago Witness, Issue 2170, 26 September 1895, Page 4

Word Count
1,332

FARM AND STATION. Otago Witness, Issue 2170, 26 September 1895, Page 4

FARM AND STATION. Otago Witness, Issue 2170, 26 September 1895, Page 4