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Cutaneous Eruptions in Rinderpest [VOL. XVIII, PART I,
any part of the skin extending dorsally from the muffle to the anal region, laterally from the cheek
to the back of the thighs, and ventrally from the jowl to the perineum in both sexes, including both
sides of the upper parts of the legs. They make their appearance in a single crop, but their numbers
may vary from a few scattered lesions to several hundreds, with a tendency to form groups of closely
situated eruptions on some areas, when they may coalesce and on being shed leave behind bigger
patches of raw skin. The severest types of lesions described by the European observers are seldom
seen in Bengal, except occasionally in buffaloes in which many large pieces of epidermis may come
off.
ASSOCIATION OF ERUPTIONS WITH RINDERPEST
Certain observers who appear to have had little experience of the true rinderpest exanthema
have doubted the development of any specific eruptions in this disease and have even suggested that
these may only be the result of some non-specific factors like tick-bites, impetigo, etc. While the
possibility of such non-specific lesions being sometimes mistaken for true rinderpest exanthema,
especially by those workers who have had no previous experience of the latter, cannot be denied,
the eruptions which usually develop during the course of rinderpest can generally be recognized
without much difficulty. Though the experience of workers in India and abroad left little doubt
of the true relationship between the infection and the eruptions, it was considered desirable to provide
some positive evidence to support this.
In most of the outbreaks investigated ample clinical evidence diagnostic of rinderpest was
available. Because of the delay which usually occurred in reporting and contacting the scene of the
outbreak, blood transmission could not be undertaken. Attempts to transmit the infection with
material consisting of scabs collected from affected animals in the ' field ' and transported to the
laboratories in Calcutta had to be resorted to, so that usually many days elapsed before the material
could be put to test. In all, about a dozen tests were done, with scab suspensions in 0.5 per cent
saline inoculated sub-cutaneously into goats, calves and buffaloes, and also applied by scarification
on the external ear. In the majority of cases, the results were negative, but in at least two instances
the disease was definitely reproduced. In one of the positive cases, the scabs had remained at room
temperature for nearly three weeks before test.
Related clinical and epizootiological aspects
The appearance of the cutaneous eruptions on animals affected with rinderpest has generally
been a welcome feature in view of the popular belief that such attacks are comparatively mild and
more commonly followed by recovery. A similar notion regarding many human diseases is also
prevalent in many parts of the world. Actual scientific data in support of this contention have
never been forthcoming, but the experience of most observers shows that the eruptions, though
often seen in severely affected animals, are usually a feature of milder attacks. Again, they have
been more commonly observed in outbreaks of moderate severity than in those accompanied by
heavy mortality. The experience in Bengal has been identical and the eruptions have been much
more commonly seen in isolated and mild outbreaks and towards the fag-end of bigger epizootics
than in the midst of severe and widespread outbreaks. In view, however, of the nature and course
of the eruptions, as already stated, their comparative infrequency in animals dying of acute attacks
of rinderpest may be more apparent than real.
Below are given (Table I) some relevant particulars of two outbreaks in which cutaneous
eruptions developed. These may serve to illustrate the usual course of events in such cases.