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SURRA IN BOVINES AND BUFFALOES.
Surra as it affects bovines and buffaloes will be treated of under the following headings :—
(i) Bovine Surra acquired spontaneously.
(ii) Bovine Surra following inoculation.
(iii) Buffalo Surra following inoculation.
SECTION I.
Spontaneous Cases in Bovines.
(a). HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF SPONTANEOUS DISEASE.
The first reference to the subject of the likelihood of bovines acquiring Surra is to be found in
Evans'* Report in 1880, where the following quotation is taken from:—
"I took every opportunity of asking the Zamindárs at the outposts whether they knew of the
disease amongst horned cattle and donkeys, and they all assured me in the negative. Colonel McLean,
1st Punjáb Cavalry, however, was told by one Zamindár that ' cattle do suffer from it, and they get it
in consequence of eating dheela grass which grows upon inundated land, some part of which, either the
root or some other part, contains a worm or an insect of some kind in June or July. The cattle eat it,
then it gives them the seeds of the disease which does not break out before the cold season.' "
The next reference is one by C. W. Campbell†, which we think can only have been ' Surra,' for, if
the inoculated disease had been Anthrax, human beings would also have succumbed to the bite of the
flies, and if rinderpest, the ponies mentioned would not have contracted the malady. The quotation is
as follows :—"In the forest regions of Korea, insect pests abound in the summer months. Mosquitoes,
gnats, and gad-flies make the lives of settlers perfectly burdensome for two or three months of the year,
and ponies and bulls quickly succumb to their attacks. The houses are kept constantly filled with
birch-smoke to drive them off; cattle are protected by fires of green wood in the open ; and men working
the clearings carry coils of rope made from dried artemesia, which burns slowly and emits a pungent
odour, for the same purpose."
In 1895, Lingard‡ reported on an outbreak of Surra in equines, and in his report states—" on the
14th December in company with Veterinary-Lieutenant F. Eassie, I visited the Bullock-Hospital, and
picked out two bullocks, Nos. 13 and 152, as being likely subjects of Surra. On the morning of the 15th
instant specimens of blood from both these animals were submitted to microscopical examination, and
the Surra hæmatozoon was found to be present in both. Bullock No. 13 succumbed at 2-45 P.M. on the
16th December, and the usual pathological conditions of the organs were noted. On the following
morning I demonstrated to Captain Birdwood (Superintendent, Karnal Government Dep6t) the pre-
sence of the ' Embryo Filaria,' in addition to the Surra hæmatozoon, in a specimen of blood taken from
the surviving bullock No. 152. Since that date this animal has passed through a paroxysm of high
fever, due to the organisms of the two diseases (Surra and Filariasis) being present concurrently. At
a later date I again visited the Bullock-Hospital in which were twenty-three patients. The blood of
twelve of the animals was selected and subjected to microscopical examination, but in no instance was
the Surra organism detected."
In 1896, M. A. Legrain§ discovered a hæmatozoon belonging to the class of flagellate infusoria,
genus Trypanosoma, in the varicose dilitations developed on the external surface of the pericardium of a
cow, killed at the Abattoir at Bougie, France. This infusorian has not been brought to notice before, in
bovines in France.
The author remarks that the Trypanosoma does not sensibly differ from the parasites met with in
fish, frogs, birds, rats, camels and horses, found in the last mentioned in India, Syria and in Egypt.
The parasite in question is an organism formed of protoplasm furnished with a flagellum, a nucleus,
and an undulating membrane and measures about 50 μ. The carcass of the cow did not present any
organic lesions, but emaciation and an anæmic condition were marked. The varicose dilitations re-
sembling bunches of grapes alone attracted attention, but these can scarcely be attributed to the presence
of the organism.
Livingstone|| in his work on the Zambesi states that the bite of the Glossina morsitans is death to
the ox, horse and dog. In one journey " though we watched the animals carefully, and believe that not
a score (flies) were ever upon them, they destroyed forty-three fine oxen." Livingstone observed that "a
* Report on 'Surra' disease, by G. Evans, M.D., A. V. D., dated 13th November 1880—No. 27 B.
† C. W. Campbell—A Journey through North Korea to the Chang-pia Shan. Journal, Royal Geographical Society, March
1892, p. 155.
‡ Report on outbreak of Surra and Filariasis at Karnal, Government Depôt, 1895.
§ 'Trypanosome des Bovides' Re Le Progres Veterinaire, No. 11. 15 Mars 1896. Also Receuil Vetermaire VIII Serie,
Tome III. No. 7.
|| Livingstone.—Opera cit.