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THURSDAY . See also:FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE (Aphthous See also:Fever, Epizootic Aphtha, See also:Eczema Epizootica), a virulent contagious and inoculable malady of animals, characterized by initial fever, followed by the formation of vesicles or blisters on the See also:tongue, See also:palate and lips, sometimes in the nostrils, See also:fourth See also:stomach and See also:intestine of See also:cattle, and on parts of the See also:body where the skin is thin, as on the udder and teats, between the claws, on the heels, coronet and pastern. The disease begins suddenly and spreads very rapidly. A rise of temperature precedes the vesicular eruption, which is accompanied by salivation and a See also:peculiar " smacking " of the lips. The vesicles gradually enlarge and eventually break, exposing a red raw patch, which is very sensitive. The See also:animal cannot feed so well as usual, suffers much See also:pain and inconvenience, loses See also:condition, and, if a See also:milk-yielding creature, gives less milk; or, if pregnant, may abort. More or less lameness is a See also:constant symptom, and sometimes the feet become very much diseased and the animal is so crippled that it has to be destroyed. It is often fatal to See also:young animals. It is transmitted by the saliva and the discharges from the vesicles, though all the secretions and excretions are doubtless infective, as well as all articles and places soiled by them. This disease can be produced by injecting the saliva, or the See also:lymph of the vesicles, into the See also:blood or the peritoneal cavity. If we were to See also:judge by the somewhat vague descriptions of different disorders by See also:Greek and See also:Roman writers, this disease has been a See also:European malady for more than 2000 years. But no reliance can be placed on this See also:evidence, and it is not until we reach the 17th and 18th centuries that we find trustworthy See also:proof of its presence, when it was reported as frequently prevailing extensively in See also:Germany, See also:Italy and See also:France. During the 19th See also:century, owing to the vastly extended commercial relations between civilized countries, it has, like the See also:lung-See also:plague, become widely diffused. In the Old See also:World its effects are now experienced from the See also:Caspian See also:Sea to the See also:Atlantic Ocean. See also:Hungary, See also:Lower See also:Austria, Bohemia, See also:Saxony and See also:Prussia were invaded in 1834. Cattle in the See also:Vosges and in See also:Switzerland were attacked in 1837, and the disease extending to France, See also:Belgium and See also: In South See also:Africa it is frequently epizootic, causing great inconvenience, owing to the bullocks used for See also:draught purposes becoming unfit for See also:work. These cattle also spread the contagion. It is not improbable that it' also prevails in central Africa, as See also:Schweinfurth alludes to the cattle of the Dinkas suffering from a disease of the See also:kind. Though not usually a fatal malady, except in very young animals, or when See also:malignant,, yet it is a most serious See also:scourge. In one year (1892) in Germany, it attacked 150,929 farms, with an estimated loss to the owners of £7,500,000 See also:sterling. It is transmissible to nearly all the domestic animals, but its ravages are most severe among cattle, sheep, goats and See also:swine. Human beings are also liable to infection. The treatment of affected animals comprises a laxative See also:diet, with salines, and the application of See also:antiseptics and astringents to the sores. The preventive See also:measures recommended are, See also:isolation of the diseased animals, boiling the milk before use, and thorough disinfection of all places and substances which are capable of conveying the infection. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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