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Contagious Abortion of Cattle, Sheep and Goats
[VOL. XVIII, PART III
Village stock. Travelling eastwards from Akola where Brucella reactors in village cattle are
first encountered [viz., 4 out of 46 (8 per cent) at Akola and Ellichpur], abortions are first reported
around Nagpur itself. Hereabouts, 12 out of 65 (18 per cent) animals tested were Brucella positive.
South-east of Nagpur in the Chanda district abortions and positive reactors have been noted, whilst
between Nagpur and Raipur and around Raipur itself abortions become even commoner and out of
71 animals 18 (25 per cent) reactors were found. A gap occurs in the survey south of Chanda and
the enquiry is taken up again around Warangal in Hyderabad State, where, in at least three villages,
abortions have been frequent in the last decade and the incidence of positive reactors was 42 per cent
of the herds.
The territory just described merges with the coastal district of Orissa and the occurrence of village
Brucellosis continues across the provincial boundary. Thus in the adjacent Orian district of Nawa-
para 42 per cent reactors were encountered in tests of several village herds and abortion was alleged
to be very common. Around Sambhalpur, Jharsaguda and Angul the reactor rate was 31 per cent,
whilst south of Cuttack in the Berhampur district the incidence of reactors was the highest yet
recorded in villages (viz., 50 per cent) and abortions were again very common. Two Brucella A/M
type strains (the term A/M is used from now on to define the aberrant village Brucella type found in
south India and described on page 144) have been isolated from this area. In the recently opened up
Orian interior round Russelkonda and Koraput positive reactors, while present, were much less
frequent than in other parts. Passing south along the coast Brucellosis is again encountered at
Vizagapatam; whilst at Bezwada, although only doubtful Brucella reactors have been so far obtain-
ed, abortion and enlarged synovial joints are reported. However very few tests in cattle have
been made in this section. In Nellore town, only goats were available for bleeding, but an 8 per cent
incidence of reactors in these animals suggests that Brucellosis is common in cattle hereabouts; a
supposition corroborated by the results obtained in villages some 22 miles to the south, near Godur.
Here, in one village, 16 out of 37 (43 per cent) cattle were strongly positive and clinical abortions
were said to be very common. Three village strains were isolated in this area, once again all being
of the A/M type. As yet serious infection has not been discovered around Madras city, but the
disease has been diagnozed southwards along the coast at Chidambaram. The scene of the survey
now shifts inland to the country around Trichinopoly, where infrequent tests failed to reveal infec-
tion. A little to the south, however, in Madura district, the trail was again picked up and infection
was detected at the slaughter-house in Kodaikanal; whilst around Periaculum considerable infec-
tion was once more encountered. In eight villages hereabouts, 18 out of 71 (25 per cent) animals
were positive to the test and abortion and enlargements of the synovial joints were common. Some
infection was found in and around Madura itself. South and east of Madura, infection has been
diagnosed near Tinnevelly and Ramnad respectively. Proceeding north and west from Madura,
infection was again encountered at Pollachi whilst around Conoor and Ootacamund it is fairly wide-
spread. In the Ootacamund slaughter house the incidence of reactors was about 8 per cent and in
that of Conoor about 5 per cent, whilst in seven adjacent villages 22 (58 per cent) out of 38 cattle
were positive to the test and abortion is alleged to be frequent. On the west coast, infection has been
diagnozed in random slaughter-house tests at Calicut and Tellicherry. On the Mysore-Madras
boundary, two more taluqs were found to be heavily infected viz., Hosur and Kollegal. In seven
villages of the former taluq, 28 (55 per cent) out of 51 cattle were Brucella positive and in nine villages
of Kollegal, 32 (35 per cent) out of 91 animals were reactors. Clinical abortion is said to be common
in this area.
In Mysore State the occurrence of Brucellosis seems to be very much on the wane and on that
side of the state adjacent to Kollegal, it was not possible to trace any infection, whilst the wild Amrit
Mahal herds also appear to be disease free. One sharp outbreak has been detected, however, in a
village of the Kadur district of northern Mysore, but notwithstanding that further north still village
infection appears to die out with a few random weak reactors to be found in the Kanara forest in the
extreme south of Bombay Presidency, a Brucella A/M type strain similar in character to the village
strains of this region has been isolated from a synovial enlargement of a cow of the Kanara district.