Prevails in France. Predisposing causes, bad hygiene. Specific cause,
streptococcus. Pathogenesis, to lambs and kids through sucking,
drinking, feeding; inoculable on Guinea-pig, not rabbit. Lesions: like
thrush, congested patches, with curd-like concretion; epithelium,
leucocytes, microbe; in bad cases gastro-enteritis, hepatitis, or
pneumonia. Symptoms: hyperthermia, refusal of teat, froth on lips,
dulness, debility, emaciation, death in 15 days; in mouth, concretions
and red raw sores; cough, hurried breathing, diarrhœa; subacute cases
have little fever, or infection. Mortality 8 per cent. in acute cases,
none in subacute. Prevention: separation and disinfection of fold.
Treatment: antiseptics to mouth; borax, sulphites, chlorate of potash,
sodium salicylate, iron chloride, copperas, silver nitrate. Feed
through tube or syringe. Internally, sulphites.
This is found in all parts of France, as described by Besnoit.
_Causes._ The predisposition, as in the case of many other fatal
internal inflammations, depends largely on faulty hygiene, foul, ill
ventilated, hot, close, damp, overcrowded folds, without sunshine,
drainage or free access to the outer air.
The _specific cause_ is a large coccus, isolated or in chains of 2, 3, 4
or more (streptococcus), and found abundantly in the pultaceous buccal
exudate, and in the internal lesions developed by autoinfection. It
grows readily in bouillon in the form of a precipitate in the bottom of
the liquid, in gelatine and glucose in very small, thin colonies, and on
potato in creamy masses. It is stained by anilin and by Gram’s (iodine)
preparation.
_Pathogenesis._ Inoculable on the Guinea pig, it is harmless to the
rabbit. It is readily conveyed to lambs and kids by inoculation, or
through the teats, by licking, drinking, feeding, etc. Acute cases are
very virulent, subacute very little so. Isolated cases of the latter are
not uncommon.
_Lesions._ The buccal lesions are like those of _thrush_ (_muguet_). The
mucosa is more or less congested and reddened with raised patches, of
varying extent, of white, curdy looking concretions, composed of excess
of epithelial cells and leucocytes with an abundant exudate. The
specific coccus is present in great numbers and often in almost pure
cultures. The internal lesions found in the more acute and fatal cases
are mostly in the form of gastro-enteritis, hepatitis and pneumonia,
containing the specific cocci, and due to the inhalation or swallowing
of the virulent buccal products.
_Symptoms._ In the _acute cases_ an intense hyperthermia is the first
symptom, speedily followed by refusal to suck, the accumulation of froth
around the lips, great dulness and lassitude, prostration, rapidly
advancing debility, and emaciation, and death in 15 days in a condition
of marasmus and inanition. When the mouth is opened the curdy white or
yellowish white patches of exudation are seen with an abundant glairy
mucus, and occasionally red, raw, angry patches from which the morbid
growth has been detached. The symptoms of pneumonia or of muco-enteritis
are usually in evidence, with or without diarrhœal or dysenteric
discharges. Acute cases are extremely contagious.
In _subacute cases_ the lesions are confined to the buccal mucosa, as
curdy white, raised concretions with ulcerous surfaces, frothy lips and
refusal of the teat, but without marked hyperthermia or constitutional
disturbance. Contagion is little marked, the disease appearing
enzoötically in flocks, or even as but one case in each of several
flocks.
_Mortality._ Eight per cent. of acute cases may perish, but the subacute
nearly all recover.
_Prevention._ When the disease has appeared in a flock, or in its
vicinity, the mouths of the lambs should be examined daily and affected
subjects and their dams carefully separated. A thorough disinfection of
the fold is imperative.
_Treatment._ Use antiseptics on the mouth, selecting the non-poisonous
articles. Borax may be rubbed freely on the patches. Solutions of
sulphite, bisulphite or hyposulphite of soda (1 oz. to 1 qt.) may be
used at frequent intervals on the mouth; chlorate of potash (5:100),
sodium salicylate (1:100), iron chloride (1:100) may be used. Ulcerous
patches may be cauterized by iron sulphate, silver nitrate, or the
potential cautery. Besnoit advises mercuric chloride (1:1,000) for
cutaneous lesions, but this would be unsuitable for either mouth or
lips. The strength must be sustained by the dam’s milk given through a
tube or syringe. For gastric lesions the sulphites may be given.