R.
KRISHNAMURTI
251
The strain was obtained from one of the districts
of this province, where the disease was prevailing.
Bull virus was largely used for some years for con-
ducting serum simultaneous inoculations but, now
with the advent of goat virus, the former is mostly
employed for carrying out immunity tests.
NATURE OF REACTION OBERVED
An analysis of observations recorded for five
years from 1938-39, leaving out of account the year
1942-43 when no bull virus strain could be main-
tained, is given in a tabular
statement
Table V).
From the statement it may be observed that during
the year 1938-39, 133 buffalo-calves were used for
virus production; of these, though 130 calves had
thermal reactions, only 102 were bled for virus,
is the remaining 28 had not the satisfactory thermal
rise to allow bleeding. One hundred and fifteen
calves had diarrhœa and 72 had mouth lesions as
well. There was a total mortality of 77 calves or
57-9 per cent including 17 which were not bled.
During the year 1939-40, the percentage of mortality
was 53.8, about 4 per cent less than in the previous
year. During 1940-41 the mortality went down to
38.5 per cent. It remained constant at 42.3 per
cent during 1941-42 and 1943-44. The higher
percentage of mortality during the first two years
may perhaps be attributed to greater quantities of
blood drawn from the calves to meet the demand
than that done during the subsequent years when
there was not much demand for the product. Ty-
pical clinical symptoms were invariably seen in
most of the reactors. High rise of temperature,
sarying from 103°F. to 106°F., with dullness, in-
appetence, suspension of rumination, discharge from
eyes, followed by diarrhæa from about the sixth or
seventh day, which in some cases was very severe
with dysentery, congestion of buccal mucous mem-
brane and, in some, ulcers also were noticed.
Diarrhœa usually persisted till death in animals
that died. Such animals were prostrate in condi-
t i on and were found to be having shooting watery
Hiarrhœa with offensive smell. In some dysentery
as observed and it was so severe that they passed
lots of blood and shreds of alimentary mucous
membrane. In the case of animals that survived,
Hiarrhæa was observed for about a week or ten days
and the faeces gradually became normal. Conges-
tion of buccal mucous membrane was usually ob-
served from about the sixth or seventh day followed
by necrosis and ulceration in many cases. Mild
reactors had thermal rise for a few days, followed
by passing of soft faeces for three or four days and
then they returned to normal condition. On autopsy
cute gastro-enteritis and occasional ulceration of
bomasum, caecum, colon, etc. were observed.
COMPARISON OF RINDERPEST GOAT VIRUS WITH
RINDERPEST BULL VIRUS
Taking into consideration that the same type of
young susceptible buffalo-calves were used both
for testing the virulence of goat virus and for pro-
duction of bull virus, the reactions observed amongst
them may comparatively be studied to give an
idea of the virulence of both the goat and bull strains.
In the Mukteswar strain of goat virus, as already
stated, it was observed that there had been the
following percentage of reactions :
Total number of calves tested
Thermal reactions
Diarrhœa
Mouth lesions
Mortality
139
116 or 83.5 per cent
86 or 61.9 per cent
39 or 28.1 per cent
32 or 23 per cent
In the Madras strain, the following reactions were
noted :
Total number of calves tested
Thermal reactions
Diarrhœa
Mouth lesions
Mortality
42
40 or 95.2 per cent
31 or 73.8 per cent
16 or 38 per cent
7 or 16.7 per cent
Totalling up the figures for both the strains, it may
be said that out of 181 calves tested 156 or 86.2
per cent had thermal reactions, 117 or 64.6 per
cent had diarrhoea and 55 or 30.4 per cent had
mouth lesions also. There had been a mortality of
39 calves or 21.5 per cent among them.
It may be mentioned here that in our experi-
ments with tissue virus in normal saline, there was
also a mortality of about 20 per cent among the
calves ; it was almost the same as in the case of
blood virus.
In the case of the calves used for bull virus pro-
duction the percentages of reactions are noted
below; the figures indicate totals for the five years
already mentioned.
Out of a total of 479 calves used 418 or 87.3 per
cent had thermal reactions, 324 or 67.6 per cent
had diarrhœa and 182 or 38 per cent had mouth
lesions and there was a mortality of 236 calves or
49.2 per cent amongst them.
The comparative figures furnished show that in
the case of goat virus there is a decrease in the
percentage of reactors by (1) about one per cent in
thermal cases, (2) three per cent in diarrhœa cases,
(3) 7.6 per cent in mouth lesions cases and (4) 27.7
per cent in mortality.
Thus, though there is not much difference in
percentage of other reactions, the mortality in case
of goat virus is much less, less than even half of the
mortality noted in case of bull virus. It should be
remembered that from the calves used for bull virus
production, some quantity of blood is drawn for
virus ; but that may perhaps cause only a slight
increase in the percentage of mortality.