18
Immunization of Sheep and Goats Against Rinderpest
what was observed in goats. In some animals, the thermal reaction lasted for a day but they re-
mained dull for a long time. Dullness was usually observed two or three days after the thermal
reaction when the animals stopped grazing. It was also found that goatis vaccinated sheep kept
in better condition with grazing then with stall feeding during the period of observation.
Experiment No. 4
To confirm the above findings concerning the variation in the reaction of the different breeds
of sheep, 10 more animals of each of the breeds mentioned above and eight desi sheep were inoculated
with goatis. Lohi lambs were also included in the experiment to compare their susceptibility with
that of the adults. For the sake of comparison, five of these were given serum goatis and five goatis
alone.
Hissari. In this lot one animal did not react.
Five animals reacted on the third day,
Two animals reacted on the fourth day,
One animal reacted on the second day, and
One animal reacted on the first day, i.e., one day after inoculation.
None of these animals stopped grazing for any length of time. The only sign of dullness was
the fact that the animals did not feed on the day of reaction and a day after. The duration of the
reaction was longer in this batch than in the previous one. One animal died with haemorrhages
in the abomasum, enteritis, pneumonia of the anterior and middle lobes of both lungs and congestion
of the larynx, thus indicating that the reaction in Hissari may not always be as mild as was indicated
by the previous experiment.
Bikaneri. None of the animals had diarrhoea or were dull in spite of the longer duration of the
thermal reaction as compared to its duration in the previous experiment.
One animal reacted on the first day,
Two animals reacted on the second day, and
Seven animals reacted on the third day.
Adult Lohi. Four sheep were injected with goatis while the other group of five got 15 c.c. serum
and goatis. All were found to be more susceptible than the Bikaneris and Hissaris as observed previous-
ly. Most of the animals reacted on the second day and the reaction lasted for more than a week.
In the animals which got serum, the reaction was comparatively mild, though it started in most of
them on the third day and lasted for more than a week.
Lohi lambs. Two of these died without showing any lesions of rinderpest. The others reacted
severely, demonstrating that the lambs were more susceptible than the adults. The dose of serum
given did not seem to reduce the severity of the reaction, thus showing that a higher dose was required
in young lambs.
Desi. These were found to be more resistant than the others because during the reaction they
were quite active and fed normally. One died without showing any lesion of rinderpest. One did
not react, while the remainder reacted on the second day, the reaction lasting from 3 to 10 days. The
old animals exhibited the same degree of reaction as the young ones thus indicating that no immunity
is conferred with age.
FIELD TRIAL
At the time when goatis was being tried in goats at Kangra, it was also used in sheep. It was
observed that Biangi sheep were comparatively more susceptible than the Gaddi and other mixed
bred local sheep. Haddow [1939] on the other hand, has stated that sheep from Tibet and Himalayan
hinterland are not susceptible. Of the Biangis, 150 were given goatis and serum while 44 were given
goatis alone. None died but the thermal reaction was severe in the controls, while in the others the
reaction was mild. Regular temperature charts were kept in the case of ten animals in each group;
three of the ten animals which got goatis and serum (10 c.c.) did not react (probably examples of
blocked reaction). The temperature record was maintained in ten Gaddi sheep also and individual