12
79. The unsatisfactory point in the management of the Silladar Camel Corps,
from the veterinary point of view, is of course the difficulty of sufficiently super-
vising the camels on unemployed pay; which can only be carried out properly
by frequent inspections.
NOTES ON SOME DISEASES OTHER THAN SURRA.
80. Tuberculosis.-In the year reported, 25 post-mortems on camels dead or
destroyed on account of various diseases have been made ; no tuberculous lesion
was coincidently present in any of them. When tuberculosis is found in the
camel as it was last year, it may be that the source of infection was bovine or
possibly human; the camel in the Punjab lives his whole life in the open; but
when one camel becomes infected it is easy to understand how others may be
infected from him, for it is the practice when feeding grain or bhusa to make the
camels sit in a circle; heads inwards, the feed for all being thrown down in a
heap in the middle; camels sneeze and cough onto this heap and thus infection
by ingestion is an easy matter.
81. A camel with tuberculosis is probably a great danger to his sarwan, for
in his resistance to handling he is constantly ejecting part of the contents of his
mouth on to the clothes or body of his attendant.
82. A few preliminary experiments with tuberculin (the effect of which has to
be checked by an examination for trypanosomes) have been made, the normal
temperature of the camel having been first ascertained by prolonged observations ;
and when opportunity occurs for further experiments it is hoped that as cases of
tuberculosis are found the proper treatment of the in-contact camels may be
decided on from their results,
83- Jhoolak.—Opportunity for some more observations on this disease have
occurred this year.
84. This disease was described in the last report, but I can now give a
further description of it:—
The disease is met with in camels in many parts of the Punjab and is not
confined to surra areas, and it appears to be most common in the early part of
the cold weather. It is wrongly called Ringworm by some salutries.
85. Symptoms.—The first lesion is a swelling of the skin, hot and painful,
which may be from ½ to as much as 3 inches in diameter ; these lesions occur on
poll, neck, withers, sides, croup, buttock or limbs ; there is sometimes only one
lesion, sometimes there are several. In about 10 days the centre of the lesion
becomes hard and dry and a necrosed area from ½ to 2 inches in diameter, like a
" sitfast," is gradually sloughed off; pus can be pressed out from under the
edge of the necrosed area. A slowly healing ulcer is left but no kunker is
formed; at first the ulcer may be half an inch deep. Sometimes by confluence
of adjoining lesions, a large area of skin is sloughed.
86. There is no marked constitutional disturbance but the disease is of some
practical importance as the camel's work is interfered with when the lesion occurs
under the palan and sometimes a large number of animals are affected at a time
of the year when much work is required of them.
87. I have now seen several instances of what appear to have been " out-
breaks" of Jhoolak, as many as 20 camels out of 100 becoming affected at about
the same time ; although a typical case occurred in a camel which sat and grazed
with 20 other camels during the whole course of the disease but the disease did
not spread to the others; no Jhoolak-infected camel had been in contact with
this case for at least 30 days before the lesion appeared.
88. Treatment.—As the disease appears to be infective it is advisable to
segregate the sick camels ; and remove the healthy camels from their original
sitting-ground.
89. It is best to assist the slough by applications of warm ghee to the part
and later by traction. Until the slough has separated it is best not to use antisep-
tics or recovery is delayed. After the slough has separated, cauterising by pure
Carbolic Acid gives the best result; it should be applied to the whole surface of the