The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-11-20
FOOT AN MOUTH DISEASE.

In view of the recent outbreak ofs foot-an d-Tnouth disease in the Hissis-
 sippi alley, the most extensive as3 yet in the United States, an account,
 taken from the Journal of the Amer ican Medical Association of the nriy,
 c1pai features of the disease nal be Of interest. It is an acute, highly infec tons disease which occurs chiefly in
 cattle, sheeps, goats and swine.
 though other animals such as the horse and dog, as well as certain wild
 animals are attacked also, aid it may
 affect human beings. In animals it is
 characterized especially by an er11p-
 ton in the mouth and on the feet 37l some species more in the mouth, in
 others more on the feet. In cattle the
 incubation period averages from three
 to five days, Whereupon a moderats
 fever with loss Of appetite and other
 general symptoms sets in In two or
 three dauys small bIisters appear on
 the lining Of the mouth, and no vthe
 fever usually subsidies. At the same
 time one or more feet may show ten-
 derness and swelling of the skin, soon
 b1isters form here also, and the anil
 nal goes 1arnes Tn the mouth the blis-
 ters may reach half an inch or more
 in diameter. but usually they are
 smaller; the contents, at first clear,
 become turbid, and as the covering bursts, small painfully raw spots are
 produced which either heal quite
 promptly or turn into ulcers that heal
 more slowly. Usually the milk is aI-
 tered and reduced in quantity; bliB- teFs and ulcers may form on the ud {
 der There is marked loss of weight, as the animals do not eat because of the pain Tn this. the ordinary form in which the death-rate is very small except among the young, the syrnp- toms fade away in from ten to twenty days or so, except where local tnfec- t1ons delay recovery, but there are a1- so Revere forms with extensive infec-
 ton which frequently end in sudden death Tn such severe cases ulcers are found in the stomach and intest- ines. In sheep and swine 1esions of the feet predominate.
 The cause of the disease is present in t1ie content sof the vesAcles, the discharges from the ulcers, the saliva, the milk! the urine and feces, but as I a rule not after the tenth day It is stated that animals having had the disease may carry the virus for I months. Any susceptible species may infect any other susceptible species. Infection occurs not only through di- rect contact, but also indirectly, as l the virus retains it's viruIence for sofe l little time, at least outside the body. | Contamination of fodder, Of stalls. of feeding and drinking troughs, of milk, l and milk products and of the hands I and clothes of drovers serves to spread
 the disease, which often travels over wide stretches of country with re- 1 narkab1e rapidity, shown by the l present outbreak As from 25 to 50 per cent Of the cattle exposed to the l infection may become sick there re- suits great loss from fall in the pro- 1 duction of milk, from reduction of vi- l taIity and fecundity, and from deaths l as well as on account of the meas i ures adopted to stamp out the dis ease.
 I The immunity produced by an at- tack seems to be feeble as animals 1 are said to suffer sometimes more than one attack within a short time I So far no practical method of protec-
 tive inocuIation has been developed. Our knowledge of the cause of foot