Relation to diphtheria in man and horse. Symptoms; fever, prostration;
swollen throat; cough; vomiting; false membranes on fauces and
tonsils; cyanosis. Treatment: local antisepsis; febrifuges.
Rossi and Nicholski claim that dogs contract diphtheria by swallowing
the excrements of diphtheritic infants, but these observations lack
confirmation, and the infrequency of such an occurrence argues against
it. Robertson records cases of canine angina with false membranes
occurring at the same time as a similar affection in the horse. The
victims were puppies and the mortality was high. Exact observations are,
however, lacking.
The _symptoms_ were dullness, prostration, anorexia, a hard cough,
swollen throat, vomiting, diarrhœa, and the presence of grayish or
yellowish false membranes on the fauces and tonsils. The breathing was
difficult and painful and the mucosæ cyanotic.
_Treatment_ has been essentially local, consisting of swabbing with
solution of boric acid (1:200), chlorate of potassa, perchloride of
iron, or nitrate of silver.