UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION 
 
 .LEGE OF AGRICULTURE 
 BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA 
 
 COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE benj. ide wheeler, president 
 
 THOMAS FORSYTH HUNT, DEAN AND DIRECTOR 
 
 CIRCULAR No. 92 
 
 INFECTIOUS ABORTION AND STERILITY IN COWS. 
 
 By C. M. Harikg. 
 
 Every dairyman should heed the following facts concerning infecti- 
 ous abortion. Cows are liable to abortion from a great variety of 
 causes, some of which, like mechanical injuries and poisonings, are 
 purely individual to the animal and show little tendency to extend to 
 other members of the herd. But every case should be regarded as 
 infectious until proven otherwise, arid should be treated as recom- 
 mended hereafter in this circular. If such procedure were generally 
 followed by dairymen, the great losses from this disease would be 
 greatly diminished. 
 
 The Cause of Infectious Abortion is a germ called the Bacillis of 
 Infectious Abortion which swarms in the tissues of aborted fetuses 
 and in the vaginal discharges of infected cows. The germs are not 
 transmitted through the air, but require more or less direct contact. 
 They die quickly upon exposure to light and drying, but will live 
 for weeks in the moist vaginal discharges or in the bodies of aborted 
 fetuses. Stable fed closely confined dairy cows are especially likely 
 to be affected, but the infection may become widely spread to range 
 animals. The introduction of the disease into a previously clean 
 herd is followed by heavy losses from the death of calves prema- 
 turely born, and especially from the decrease of milk production and 
 the frequency of sterility in the cows that ''slip their calves." 
 
 The disease is propagated by the transfer to healthy cattle of 
 infectious material from the aborting cows in the following manner: 
 
 (1) By feed or water which has been contaminated from the vaginal 
 discharges of infected cows. In this way animals may contract the 
 disease as readily at pasture as in the stable or corral. Healthy cows 
 are frequently infected by licking up infectious material from the 
 soiled flanks of infected cattle. 
 
 (2) By close contact of diseased and healthy cattle. The infec- 
 tious discharges may be transferred to the external genitals of healthy 
 cattle through the contact of the switching tail of a diseased cow, or 
 by other means. 
 
 (3) The disease is thought to be frequently transferred by the 
 male. Bulls that have covered affected cows seldom show a diseased 
 condition themselves, but unless disinfected, are capable of trans- 
 mitting the disease to susceptible cows during coilion. 
 
 (1) 
 
— 2 — 
 
 What Dairymen with Infected Herds Should Do to Stop Losses 
 
 From Abortion. 
 
 (A) Isolate at once every cow that develops symptoms of approach- 
 ing abortion. These symptoms are rapid swelling of the udder, 
 swollen vulva, whitish discharge from the vulva, sinking in of the 
 ligaments above the base of the tail in the way that occurs in cows 
 about to calve normally. Infectious abortion does not often affect 
 the general health of the cow, except in cases where injury results 
 from the retention in the womb of a dead calf, or when there is 
 failure to completely expel the afterbirth. Infectious abortion is a 
 disease of the fetus and its membranes rather than of the mother. 
 
 (B) Whenever a cow aborts remove the fetus, the afterbirth and all 
 discharges, and burn or bury them in an isolated place. Thoroughly 
 cleanse and disinfect the external genital organs, hindquarters, hips, 
 thighs, and tail with 3 per cent compound solution of cresol (lysol). 
 This is prepared by adding three ounces (six tablespoonfuls) of the 
 lysol to each gallon of water used. Douche the womb with a 1 per 
 cent solution of cresol (two tablespoonfuls to the gallon of water), 
 twice on the day that the afterbirth is expelled, and daily thereafter 
 until all discharge ceases. Use copious amounts of the douche. If 
 remains of the afterbirth are retained in the womb, an attempt should 
 be made to remove them within forty-eight hours after the calf is 
 passed. This may be facilitated by the injection of large quantities 
 of warm one per cent compound cresol solution. A convenient way 
 of introducing the douche is through a comparatively stiff rubber 
 tube. The liquid being passed into the tube through a tin funnel 
 or from a pail suspended above and back of the cow. However, a 
 pump forcing the solution from a bucket through a small hose is 
 more likely to cleanse the organs thoroughly. Always place the 
 pump and hose in a strong solution of disinfectant (3 per cent com- 
 pound solution of cresol) before using it again. When all discharge 
 has ceased, the cow may be returned to the herd, but so long as the 
 tail becomes the least bit soiled, she should remain isolated. To be 
 on the safe side, we recommend isolation in every case for at least 
 thirty days. 
 
 (C) The aborting cow should not be bred for at least ten weeks. 
 If properly douched all discharges cease much sooner, but the genital 
 organs require that length of time to regain their normal condition. 
 
 (D) In order to reduce to a minimum the possibility of a bull 
 transmitting the disease, where a separate bull can not be kept for the 
 infected cows, thoroughly cleanse and disinfect the sheath of the bull 
 before and after service. Clip the long hairs of the prepuce and 
 sheath, and thoroughly wash the sheath with a 1 per cent compound 
 cresol solution before and after each service. 
 
 (E) Disinfect the milking stable thoroughly at least once a month, 
 as directed in the circular on disinfection of stables. This circular 
 can be obtained on application to the Director of the California Agri- 
 
— 3 — 
 
 cultural Experiment Station, Berkeley, California. Spread the ma- 
 nure from the stable in some field where cattle are not pastured. 
 Thoroughly cleanse and disinfect the external genital organs and 
 hind quarters of all cows in the milking barn at least once a day 
 with 3 per cent compound cresol solution, but do not inject into the 
 vaginas of the presumably pregnant and healthy cows. 
 
 What Dairymen with Healthy Herds Should Do to Prevent the 
 Introduction of Abortion. 
 
 If possible keep all newly purchased pregnant animals isolated 
 until calving at which time they should be treated as recommended 
 in section (B) above. If a case of abortion occurs in the herd, it 
 should be treated as if it were an infectious form of the disease. 
 Do not permit the bull to serve animals not belonging to the premises. 
 
 REMEDIES OF UNCERTAIN VALUE. 
 
 Contagious Abortion Bacillus Vaccine is a preparation made from 
 the germs of the disease, which is now being used extensively, for 
 the purpose of immunizing the cows. The preparation has been in 
 use such a short time that its value, if any, has not yet been 
 demonstrated. 
 
 Carbolic acid has frequently been tried in various ways as a 
 remedy for this disease. As a disinfectant for use about the stable, 
 or as a douche for the cows, it is inferior to the compound solution 
 of cresol recommended above. Its use in a diluted form as a medi- 
 cine to be sprinkled on the feed or to be injected under the skin 
 of the affected cow is of questionable value. Many dairymen, includ- 
 ing some of the Agricultural Experiment Stations, have used it 
 with apparently excellent success. On the other hand, numerous 
 breeders and investigators claim no success whatever with it. The 
 difficulty in obtaining crucial evidence as to the effectiveness of 
 this or any other remedy for this disease lies in the fact that many 
 cows undoubtedly acquire a measure of immunity after one or 
 two attacks. 
 
 Useless Nostrums. 
 
 There is at present no known specific remedy for infectious abor- 
 tion. Many of the so-called "cures" on the market have as their 
 basis a carbolic acid solution. Others are absolute fakes. The good 
 results frequently reported from the use of these can usually be 
 attributed to the fact that the animals have at the same time been 
 subjected to a very careful and continuous external disinfection. 
 
 Treatment for Sterility. 
 
 To promote conception it is advisable to irrigate the vagina one 
 or two hours before coition with a solution of sodium bicarbonate. 
 
Use two heaping tablespoonfuls of ordinary baking soda to the gallon 
 of lukewarm water. Many cows that have aborted fail to conceive 
 because of a diseased condition of the ovaries resulting in the 
 formation of cysts and small tumors. When such a condition exists 
 it is advisable to attempt rupture of the cysts or squeeze out the 
 tumors by the pressure of the hands applied through the walls of 
 the rectum or vagina. A qualified veterinarian should be employed 
 to perform these operations. 
 
 Practical Suggestions. 
 
 Cows which have aborted one or two times should be disposed of 
 only if they fail to conceive after a subsequent covering, provided 
 they have received suitable disinfecting treatment. By keeping 
 pregnant animals the disease will be brought to a standstill more 
 quickly than if new susceptible material is continually added in their 
 place. Some cows apparently become immune without aborting. It 
 is the history of the disease in the great majority of herds that after 
 reaching its height, it gradually subsides of its own accord until only 
 a few slips occur each year or it may disappear entirely. In herds 
 where abortions have not occurred for several years, or at least 
 only rarely, the owner should take particular pains to prevent its 
 introduction. Every case of abortion should be regarded as sus- 
 picious until proven otherwise. If a slip occurs the cow should be 
 isolated at once and treated as directed above. The portions of the 
 stall or corral contaminated by her discharge should be disinfected, 
 or if the abortion has occurred at pasture, the fetus and afterbirth 
 should be searched for and removed and the infected spot of 
 ground where they have lain should be burned over.