Special report on diseases of the horse / by Drs. Pearson [and others].

Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Special report on diseases of the horse / by Drs. Pearson [and others]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    588/690 (page 506)
    The diagnosis of brain trouble is based upon the excessive violence which occurs in the course of the disease, for during the intervening period or coma there is no means of determining that it is due to this complication. Severe cases of influenza may simulate anthrax in the horse. In both we have stupor, the intense coloration of the mucous membranes of the eyes, and a certain amount of swelling of the legs and under surface of the belly. The diagnosis here can be made only by microscopic examination of the blood. In strangles, equine variola, and scalma we have an intense red, rosy coloration of the mucous membranes, full, tense pulse, and, although in these diseases we may have depression, we do not have the stupor and coma except in severe cases which have lasted for some days. In influenza we have no evi- dence of the formation of pus on the mucous membranes as in the other diseases, except sometimes in the conjunctive of the eyes. In severe pneumonia (lung fever) we may find profound coma, dark yellowish coloration of the mucous membranes, and swelling of the under surface of the belly and legs; but in pneumonia we have the history of the difficulty of breathing and an acute fever of a sthenic type from the outset, and the other symptoms do not occur for several days; while in influenza we have the history of characteristic symp- toms for several days before the rapid breathing and difficulty of res- piration indicate the appearance of the complication. Without the history it is frequently difficult to diagnose a case of influenza of sev- eral days’ standing complicated by pneumonia, from a case of severe pneumonia of five to six days’ standing, but from a prognostic point of view it is immaterial, as the treatment of both are identical. The fact that other horses in the same stable or neighborhood have influ- enza may aid in the diagnosis. Prognosis.—Influenza is a serious disease chiefly on account of its numerous complications. Uncomplicated influenza is a comparative!}7 simple malady, and is fatal in but 1 to 5 per cent of all cases. In some outbreaks, however, complications of one kind or another pre- ponderate; in such instances the rate of mortality is much increased. A Iterations.—The chief alteration of influenza occurs in the digest- ive tract, and consists in hyperemia, infiltration, and swelling of the mucous membrane, and especially of the Peyers’ patches near the ileo- cecal valve. The tissues throughout the body are found stained, and of a more or less yellowish hue. There is always found a congested condition of all the organs, muscles, and interstitial tissues of the body. The coverings of the brain and spinal cord partake in the con- gested and discolored condition of the rest of the tissues. Other alterations are dependent entirely upon the complications. If the lungs have been affected, we find effusions identical in their intimate nature with those of simple pneumonia, but they differ some- what in their general appearance in not being so circumscribed in