[Gutenberg 35258] • Contagious Abortion of Cows

Excerpt from Contagious Abortion of Cows

The premature discharge of the products of conception from the uterus is a not infrequent occurrence among domestic animals, and doubtless various factors may from time to time operate in its causation. For a long time, however, practical husbandmen have recognized an epizootic or contagious kind of abortion, a definite transmissible disease in which the loss of the fetus is the most prominent characteristic. The transmissibility of contagious abor tion of cows appears to have been demonstrated experimentally for the first time by Brauer. Experimental transmission has been per formed by a number of investigators subsequently, the work of N ocard (1886) furnishing conclusive evidence upon this point.