Devils Lake weekly world. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1911-1914, 1912-10-11
THE sKANsAs-NEBRAsllA
DISEASE.

DISEASE.
(By DIR. L. Van Esq
During the last few weeks, there has
occurred an extremely fatal disease
among the horses of Kansas and Ne
:braska. The disease apparently origin
sated in Oklahoma or Southern Kansas
has spread With great rapidly to the
north, finally crossing The southern
BOUNDARY vi the state OF South Dakota.
!. This entrance OF so fatal a disease in
to our territory may warrant of prief
discussion OF it i'll these columns even
il il may seem presumptuous to deal
with g subject about Which so little is
known. This little, however is QUtt
sufficient TO deserve our closest attell-
ton.
NATURE OF DISEASE UNKNOWN,
The nature OF the disease under con-
Sheraton is absolutely unknown. The
symptoms clearly Indicate that they
arise from certain disturbances Of the
central nervous system, yet a naked eye
examination CT those organs discioses
very little i'll the way Of changes from
The normal. Owing TO tie disturbances
seer i'll connection With the brain and
referred TO as cereoro-spinal meningi-
us although careful observation VIII
convince anyone That there is little rea-
son for this name as the membranes
enclosing the organs mentioned are not
ntiamed Or materially Changed in any
way 1t is often seen that the blood
vessels OF The enveioping membranes are
overtiowed With blood but the same is
usually the case i'll other parts OF the
BODY, and the TACT must De ascrIbed TO
the mode OF death OF the animals exam
med 'fhis is not uncommoniy accom-.
piisned by the cessation OF the respira
tory function and this usually brings
about the accumulation OF q dark blood
in the smaller veins OF the body,
While apparently the greater part OF
the disturbance has its seat in the cen
tral nervous system, it is by no means
certain, that they are primarily inyolv.
ed it is well possible that the sy!nil-
toms are due to some agent introduced
or originating in some other part OF The
body.
In the light Of our present knowledge
nothing definite can be said about ei1h'
The damage done to the animal body or
the cause of the disease and all specu:a-
tons regarding the same Should not be
countenanced until proved TO be true by
scientific experiment.
However, the explosive nature of the
outbreak and its more Or less rap
spread over large area Of country
strongly point out the direction in which
the cause Of the trouble must be looked
for.
When large number of animals in
a given area suddenly sicken, we DO not
go far astray by ascrtbing the tro-
to some form of infection or to the eat
ing of some poisonous substance.
In the opinion of many, the theory last
named finds favor, principally oeca
the disease SO closely Stimulates tina
caused by the feeding of mouldy fodder.
The spreading Of the disease over a
given territory, however seems to in
dicate an infectious nature of the dis
turbance although it is by no means
impossible that the spreading of this
horse epidemic may have been proceed
ed by one of the forage plants.
What is the true cause of the trouble
must be left unanswered at the present
writing, but certain features Of the out
break indicate in a fairly clear manner
that whatever the cause Of the disease
as, it is apparently most liable to be
contracted by animals at pasture or
those fed on green roughage. OF all
the thousands Of horses which have sue.
cumbed to this disease, only a very few
iall TO show any connection with pas
ture or green forage feeding. Further
more, III nerds Or On farms, where Sc
we're losses occurred, the stabling OF the
animals and the feeding Of hay and
grain was usually followed by the failure
OF new cases to develop after q com
paraticeiy short period.
Those observations, without throwing
any special light on the cause OF the
trouble, strongly indicate that either the
infective germ Of the disease or the
poison producing it are introduced by
the mouth the feed and water serving
as a vehicle. This is important as it
furnishes lis with about the only groun,
upon which TO base preventive measures
SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of the disease max be
briefly summarized. They are practic
ally all Of a central nervous origin In
many cases a rise Of the body temper
ature precedes all other disturbances.
but the first thing most commonly OBJ
served is a certain degree of duilness in
the subject affected. The horse seems
TO be less observant as 10 what is going
Oh in his immediate surroundings rne
head droops a little and the ears have
lost their customary motility. While
the appetite may he a little reduced,
there is vet some inclination to eat at
the beginning of ele disease, although:
mastication may be q little slow and
is not infrequently interrupted the sick
animal apparently forgetting what he IS
about
a great majority of the cases at this
stage of the disease have no trouble in
swallowing but little later this func-
ton may be greatly impaired if moi en-
tireiy suspended and for reasons to be
stated later this fact must not be over
looked.
AS the evolution Of the disease advanc-
es, the animals become unsteady or