NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
272
Tuberculosis in the Monkey
naturally by monkeys are caused by the human type of bacillus, although
experimental evidence has been produced to show that every variety of monkey
is susceptible to the bovine as well as the human type of organism.
Griffiths [1928] records that out of 30 primates which died of tuberculosis,
22 were affected with tubercle bacilli of the human type and eight with the
bovine type. No primates were included in the investigations of Liston
and Soparkar [1924] carried out in India. In fact, no study of tubercle
bacilli affecting primates in captivity in this country has yet been undertaken.
The writer recently came across a few cases of tuberculosis in monkeys
received for post-mortem examination from the Lahore Zoological Gardens
and proceeded to study the organisms isolated from an interesting case of this
disease in a baboon.
HISTORY
Subject.—Male Abyssinian Baboon (Cynocephalus babouin).
This animal was presented to the Zoological Gardens, Lahore, along with
a female of the same species by the ' Paristan Park Circus ' on the 14th of
August 1937. Their age and origin is not known, but it is presumed that they
were imported from North Africa as this genus of primates is not indigenous
to India.
At the Lahore Zoological Gardens, these animals were fed on chapatties
together with fruits such as bananas, pears, cucumbers, etc. Milk was not
fed to them till about a week or so before their death when they were noticed
to be sick.
These animals appeared to maintain good health till about ten days before
death, when a severe cough was observed to occur in the mornings and
evenings. The male baboon died on the 12th of January, 1938, of generalized
tuberculosis and the female succumbed to the same disease on the 5th of
March, 1938.
POST-MORTEM FINDINGS
The general condition was rather poor. The visible mucous membranes
were pale. The tracheal and bronchial mucous membranes were congested
and the trachea and bronchi filled with whitish opaque froth.
The lungs were almost entirely consolidated and the lung surface was found
to be studded with a fairly large number of yellowish white tubercles
(Plate XVII, fig 1). On dissection, both lungs presented extensive caseating
areas and a few smaller tubercles (Plate XVIII), but there was no evidence of
calcification. Cut pieces from the consolidated parts of the lung readily sank
in water. The mediastinal and bronchial lymph glands were found to be
slightly enlarged and congested and one of the bronchial glands was almost
entirely caseated. The heart muscle and the pericardium did not present any
tuberculous lesions. The liver showed a large number of tubercles both on the
surface and n the parenchyma. One of the hepatic lymph glands showed
a few tubercles in the cortex. The spleen showed typical ' nodular '
tubercles on the surface (Plate XVII, fig. 1) and in the pulp. This
' nodular form' of caseating tubercles seen in the spleen is so characteris-
tic of tuberculosis in monkeys that it has earned for similar lesions the name
' monkey tuberculosis '. The kidneys were remarkably free from tubercles
Ind. J. Vet. Sci. & Anim. Husb., Vol. X, Part III ]
plate XVII
FIG. 1. Lung and spleen
Note 'nodular' tubercles on the spleen and caseating tubercles in the lung
FIG. 2. Lungs and spleen of rabbit showing miliary tubercles.
The rabbit died 43 days after subcutaneous inoculation
Ind. J. Vet. Sci. & Anim. Husb., Vol. X, Part III ]
PLATE
XVIII
Cut surface—Lung showing extensive caseating areas and small tubercles
P. R. KRISHNA IYER 273
both on the surface as well as in the cortical and medullary portions of the
parenchyma. Two of the mesenteric lymph glands were completely caseated
and three others showed a few tuberculous foci though they were not sensibly
enlarged. The alimentary tract was examined throughout the whole of ts
length and two elongated tuberculous ulcers surrounded by raised borders
were found on the mucosa of the m ddle ileum. The pharyngeal lymph glands
were normal. The etiological diagnosis made was, therefore, generalized
tuberculosis and pneumonia.
Microscopical examination of smears from the lesions in the different or-
gans showed fairly numerous acid-fast bacilli, morphologically indistinguish-
able from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tubercle bacilli in the smears from liver
and spleen were not so numerous as those n the lung lesions, while smears from
the intestinal ulcers showed very few tubercle bacilli.
ANIMAL INOCULATIONS
Microscopical examination of smears from the affected bronchial lymph
gland showed no evidence of secondary infection. A piece of this gland was
thoroughly ground up in a mortar with sterile saline and inoculated subcuta-
neously into the left thighs of a rabbit and of a guinea-pig on the 12th of
January, 1938.
The guinea-pig died 26 days later and numerous minute tubercles were
found in the lungs, liver, spleen and kidneys as well as a local caseating lesion
at the seat of inoculation. The precrural lymph gland on the left side was
enlarged and caseated.
The rabbit died 43 days after inoculation. At the time of death, the con¬
d'tion of the animal was poor. At the seat of inoculation, a caseating, yellow-
ish white, necrotic mass was found surrounded by about half a dozen tubercles
ranging in size from a pin-head to a millet-seed. The precrural lymph gland
on the inoculated side was observed to be highly enlarged and entirely caseated.
Both lungs were studded with numerous caseating tubercles, varying in size
from a pin-head to a pea. The spleen showed a fair y large number of tuber-
cles on the surface and in the parenchyma (Plate XVII, fig. 2). The liver
and kidneys also showed minute caseating tubercles. Smears from the lesions
showed a large number of tubercle bacilli.
CULTURAL EXAMINATION
Cultures from the lung lesions were put upon Dorset's egg and Petroff's
gentian violet media, but without success on account of secondary bacterial
contamination. With ant-forminized material, however, growths were ob-
tained on a few tubes.
Cultures were also obtained from the affected precrural lymph glands of
the rabbit and the guinea-pig. Aseptically removed precrural glands were cut
into two halves and the cut surface was gently rubbed on the surface of the
media. Growth occurred slowly in the form of a few discrete minute colonies
in Dorset's egg and Petroff's gentian violet media. Sub-cultures on glycerine
egg med a did not enhance the type of growth ; on the contrary a distinct in-
hibition of the growth was observed and after five weeks' incubation at 37°C.
a slight film only was present on the surface. Sub-cultures on Dorset's egg
media showed a typically dysgonic flat dry growth.
C 2
274
Tuberculosis in the Monkey
No further virulence tests could be carried out with the cultures on account
of the hot climatic conditions.
From the cultural characteristics and the results of animal inoculations,
therefore, it would appear that this organism is of the bovine type.
The female baboon died of tuberculosis on 5 March 1938, having evident-
ly contracted the infection by cohabitation with her tuberculous mate.
Post-mortem examination revealed essentially the same type of lesions in
the lungs, spleen and liver, together with the presence of numerous acid-fast
organisms in the smears from the lesions. In the female, however, there was
no evidence of intestinal ulceration, nor were any of the mesenteric lymph
glands found to be tuberculous ; but all the bronchial and mediastinal lymph
glands were enlarged and entirely caseated.
It is regretted that it was impossible to carry out cultural and biological
tests with the infected material from the female baboon. But from analogy
of what was observed with the material from the male baboon and from the
history o cohabitation, it would appear that she also succumbed to tubercu-
losis caused by the bacilli of the bovine type.
HISTOLOGICAL EXAMINATION
A histo-pathological examination of sections of lung, presented a picture
of massive caseation and caseous pneumonia. In the caseated area a large
amount of chromatin debris was present and this was surrounded by a zone
of epithelioid cells. A characteristic histological feature of the lesions in these
baboons, which deserves mention, was the entire absence of giant-cells, though
in some places the ep thelioid cells had passed into the symplasma stage. There
was no microscopical evidence of calcification in any of the lesions.
DISCUSSION
Though tuberculosis in the domestic animals other than bovines is not of
great economic importance, it is of academic interest to the pathologist to
determine the exact character of the infecting organism and the nature and
distribution of the lesions met with in various species of animals.
The finding of tubercle bacilli of the bovine type from the tuberculous
lesions of this baboon supports the theory of infection from cattle. It is
assumed that the male baboon contracted the infection when, under the circus
management, it was fed with raw infected milk. It is also possible that the
female baboon contracted the infection from the male by cohabitation during
the last few days of the latter's existence when he was coughing and thus dis-
seminating the infecting agent. But as no history of their being fed with raw
milk is available, it is impossible to assert that this was the actual cause of the
infection in the male baboon. It is possible that the infection reached the
baboons from another group of animals through the agency of rats, mice or
birds.
The fact that the causal organism entered the body of the male baboon
by way of the alimentary tract is amply demonstrated by the finding of tuber-
culous ulcers in the intestinal mucosa and lesions in the mesenteric glands.
Moreover, in this animal, the thoracic lymph glands with the exception of one
bronchial gland did not show much evidence of tuberculosis.
P. R. KRISHNA IYER 275
In the female monkey, however, the extensive affection of all the bronchial
and mediastinal lymph glands and an entire absence of esions in the intestines
and the mesenteric lymph glands shows that the thoracic organs were the pri-
mary seat of infection, presumably by inhalation of infective spray coughed
out by her tuberculous mate.
The absence of giant cells in the lesions, noticed on histo-pathological
examination indicates the acute course the disease had taken in these baboons
whose ready susceptibility allowed no time for the defensive mechanism of the
body to produce giant cells around the lesions. This fact, together with the
history that each of the baboons was noticed to be sick for about ten days
only before its death, ends further support to the theory that wild animals,
which have not previously been in contact with tuberculous infection, possess
but feeble powers of resistance. The absence of calcification in the lesions
can also be attributed to the same causes as those accounting for the absence
of giant cells.
SUMMARY
Details are given of two cases of spontaneous tuberculosis in Abyssinian
Baboons (Cynocephalus babouin). The type of infecting bacillus was ascer-
tained in one instance to be bovine. The lesions were characterized by an
entire absence of giant cells. The type and location of the lesions suggested
that one of the animals was infected through the alimentary tract by ingest on
and the other by inhalation.
REFERENCES
Cobbett, L. (1917). The Causes of Tuberculosis (Cambridge University Press)
Griffiths, A. S. (1928). J. Hyg. 28, 198
Liston, W. G., and Soparkar, M. B. (1924), Ind. J. Med. Res. 11, 671-80
Lovell, R. (1930). J. Comp. Path. Ther. 43, 205
PARATUBERCULOUS ENTERITIS OF SHEEP AT THE
HISSAR CATTLE FARM
BY
P. N. NANDA, M.R.C.V.S.
Assistant Superintendent (Stock)
AND
GURBAX SINGH, L.V.P.
Veterinary Assistant Surgeon, Government Cattle Farm, Hissar
(Received for publication on 8 February 1940)
U NFORTUNATELY, diseases of sheep have, so far, attracted comparatively
little attention in this country. Whatever the cause of this lack of in-
terest, it must be admitted that for an enterprising breeder, each animal con-
stitutes a valuable productive unit which he can ill afford to lose. Generally
it has been observed that parasitic diseases are responsible for the greater
proportion of the total losses in sheep, but apart from these, some unknown
diseases also claim a number of victims. The initiative taken by the Punjab
Government for the improvement of the indigenous sheep with the help of a
grant-in-aid from the Imperial Council of Agricultural Research has offered
ideal opportunities for the study of some of the hitherto unknown diseases
of sheep in India.
Johne's disease in sheep seems to have been first recorded by Stockman
[1911] in Scotland and later by various workers, including Lange and Berge
[1915], McFadyean and Sheather [1916], Howarth [1932], Johnstone [1934],
Thiery and Getas [1935] and McEwen [1939] in other countries. Recently
some cases of this disease have also been detected in India at the Hosur Cattle
Farm by Rahimuddin [1940]. During the course of the last two years, a few
cases of this disease have been further recorded amongst the Bikaner flock of
sheep at the Government Cattle Farm, Hissar. It might be of interest to the
profession in general and the sheep breeders in particular to record here
details of the observations made at Hissar.
HISTORY AND SYMPTOMS
In 1937, three young ewes were noticed to show very marked
unthriftiness which persisted in spite of good feeding. In the later stages a
persistent watery diarrhœa and extreme emaciation were the only pronounced
visible symptoms. Verminous gastritis was suspected, but repeated dosing
with anthelmintics proved of no avail. Eventually, the animals died after
five to six months. At autopsy nothing unusual could be detected except the
anæmic condition of the internal organs and slight swelling of the mesenteric
lymph glands. Small hæmorrhages were also present at places under the
mucous membrane of the intestines. These observations did not lead us to a
definite diagnosis and the carcases were disposed off.
( 276 )
P. N. NANDA AND GURBAX SINGH 279
rectum and examining it microscopically has been found quite useless in the
early stages of the disease in cattle. According to McEwen [1939] the use
of Johnin of bovine origin, in the detection of Johne's disease amongst sheep
and calves has proved unsatisfactory although Houthuis [1932] claims to have
obtained good results with Johnin of high potency for the diagnosis of the
disease in cattle. Howarth [1937] reports good results with the use of Avian
Tuberculin and Johnin for the detection of the disease in sheep.
The failure to set up infection in adult sheep by McEwen [1939] indicates
an age resistence to infection as pointed out by Meyer [1913] and Hagan
[1938] amongst cattle and in this connexion it may be interesting to record
that the ewes in the present instance were three years and six years old at the
time of death.
REFERENCES
Dunkin, G. W. and Balfour-Jones, S.E.B. (1935). J. Comp. Path. and Ther. 48, 236
Hagan, W. A. (1938). [quoted by McEwen, A. D. (1939) J. Comp. Path. & Ther. 52, 69]
Houthuis, M. J. J. (1932). Vet. Rec. 12, 1488-92
Howarth, J. A. (1932). J. Amer. Vety. Med. Assoc. 81, 383
—(1937).
Cornell Veterinarian 27, 223-4
Johnstone, D. (1934). Vet. Rec. 45, 1388
Lange, W. and Berge, R. (1915). [quoted by McEwen, A. D. (1939). J. Comp.
Path. & Ther. 52, 69]
McEwen, A. D. (1939). J. Comp. Path. & Ther. 52, 69
McFadyean, J. and Sheather, A. L. (1916). J. Comp. Path. & Ther. 37, 73
Meyer, K. F. (1913). [quoted by McEwen, A. D. (1939). J. Comp. Path. & Ther.
52, 69]
Rahimuddin, M. (1940). I. C. A. R. Misc. Bull. 33
Stockman, S. (1911). J. Comp. Path. & Ther. 24, 66-9
Taylor, E. L. (1939). Vet. Rec. 51, 895
Thiery and Getas (1935). [quoted by McEwen, A. D. (1939). J. Comp. Path. &
Ther. 52, 69]
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS ON THE BIONOMICS
OF THE GOAT WARBLE FLY (HYPODERMA
CROSSII PATTON)*
BY
B. N. SONI, B.Sc. (PB.), B.Sc. AGRI. (EDIN.)
Imperial Veterinary Research Institute, Mukteswar-Kumaun
(Received for publication on 25 March 1940)
(With Plate XIX and one text-figure)
INTRODUCTION
A PART from recording for the first time the occurrence of Hypoderma
crossii in goats in the Punjab, Patton [1922-23] has also mentioned
two salient facts in regard to the bionomics of this pest. Firstly, it is observed
that though Hypoderma crossii is most commonly found in the skins of goats
it also occurs in the skins of cattle ; and secondly that it is possible that H.
crossii lays her eggs directly on the long hair on the sides of the goats, and
that the larvae enter the underlying skin and remain there, and that there
is no migration as in the case of H. bovis and H. lineatum. Hypoderma crossii
has not been recorded from any other country outside India. The only other
species of Hypoderma known to parasitise goats is Hypoderma aeratum in
Cyprus [Austen, 1931]. Although a detailed morphological account of H.
aeratum is available [Austen, 1931], very little is known about the bionomics
of this species. Similarly, Patton [1922-23, 1923-24] and Soni [1939] have
confined their studies mainly to the morphology of H. crossii.
In this paper it is proposed to discuss the above two points and also to
record a few original observations concerning the bionomics of the pest.
The observations recorded in this paper were made by the writer in the course
of a series of warble fly surveys carried out by him in certain heavily infested
localities—all situated in northern India—which are specified in the following
account.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
The writer has recorded the occurrence of H. crossii in the Punjab,
North-West Frontier Province, Kashmir and Kulu valleys, whilst Davenport
[1930] has reported a heavy infestation of goats with the same species in
Baluchistan. A few specimens of full-grown larvae received by the present
writer from the Veterinary Investigation Officer, Sind, showed that the pest
is also prevalent in that province. In the Punjab the infection is limited to
the Salt Range district which includes Jhe'um, Shahpur, Mianwali, Rawal-
pindi and Campbellpur. Certain herds in the Punjab were found to be
infested to the extent of more than 90 per cent and in a number of cases 150-
200 larvae have been recovered from a single animal. The pest would also
* Presented at the Indian Science Congress, held at Madras in January 1940.
( 280 )
Ind. J. Vet. Sci. & Anim. Husb., Vol. X, Part III
]
plate XIX
FIG. 1. Portion of goat-skin showing warble holes
FIG. 2. Goats of Kaugani breed which are heavily infested
B. N. SONI 281
appear to be very prevalent in the North-West Frontier Province, and Chadda
and Soni [1939] have published a map showing the regional distribution and
the incidence of Hypoderma crossii in that province. It would appear that
the pest is particularly wide spread in the dry and hilly tracts of the North-
West Frontier Province, and the writers just cited, observed that' the highest
percentage of infestation in goats is in Kohat district where in some villages
it is hardly possible to pick out a single goat free from warbles. The per-
centage of infestation is fairly heavy in hilly districts like Hazara and Waziris-
tan.' A piece of goat-skin obtained by the present author from that province
measured 18" × 6" and contained 179 warble punctures (Plate XIX, fig. 1).
In Kashmir and Kulu valleys, goats of the ' Kaugani' and ' Gadhairun'
breeds were found heavily infested. These goats are of a short stature and
possess long hair and drooping ears (Plate XIX, fig. 2).
SEASONAL OCCURRENCE
The result of a series of surveys carried out by the writer in the Punjab
and North-West Frontier Province would appear to indicate that the seasonal
occurrence of H. crossii differs from that of H. lineatum. All the available
information and the result of examination of material collected in the field
point to the conclusion that the period from pupation to egg laying in H.
crossii ranges from the middle of March till the middle of August, this being
about two months late than in the case of H. lineatum [Soni, 1939]. Very
young or the first-stage larvae of H. crossii have been found in the subcutane-
ous fascia of the goat's back as early as the third week of August. From
the same localities second-stage larvae have been encountered between early
October and the middle of November. The full-grown or the ultimate-stage
larvae keep appearing in tumours in the back of the host till the middle of
March, so that the total period for which the larvae occur on the back is nearly
seven months. From the point of view of the formulation of combative
measures, the importance of this observation is obvious. The seasonal
occurrence of H. crossii in the round of the year is diagrammatically repre-
sented in Fig. 1.
HOST PREFERENCE IN H. CROSSII
Austen [1931], in referring to H. crossii, remarks as follows : —
' Patton [1922-23] in the title of the paper in which this species is des-
cribed, speaks of it as parasitic in its larval stages in cattle as well as goats
in the Punjab, but in the body of the paper no evidence is adduced to prove
that the warble fly of the Punjab cattle is actually H. crossii '. The present
writer, during his extensive surveys of North-Western India, has been unable
to obtain any evidence of H. crossii infestation in cattle. This species is
commonest in goats and has also been found to occur occasionally in sheep.
It is of interest that only long-haired goats, such as the local 'Barbary'
and other hill breeds are infested by this species, and it is therefore possible
that the presence of long hairs on the body is a factor in the determination of
host preference in H crossii.
232
Bionomics of Goat Warble Fly
FIG. 1. A seasonal occurrence calendar regarding Hypoderma crossii larvae in the round of
the year, (Punjab & N. W. F. P.).
As Patton [1922-23] has already suggested, H. crossii in all probability
lays its eggs directly on the long hairs on the sides of the goats and the larvae
enter the skin below and remain there. The whole of the larval development
is accomplished in the subcutaneous tissues of the host without the occurrence
of a stage of migration between any of the successive instars and this
accounts for the occurrence of warble tumours in goats during a con-
tinuous period of nearly seven months as against four months in the case of
cattle. Under field conditions it may prove to be of actual advantage to have
to deal with protracted infestations, for this would make it possible to carry
out the dressing operations with a small staff in relatively large herds or in a
succession of infested localities widely separated from one another.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Hypoderma crossii Patton, a parasite of goats and sheep in India, has so
far been studied only morphologically, first by Patton [1922-23, 1923-24]
and later by Soni [1939]. The present article deals exclusively with some
observations made by the author on the bionomics of H. crossii during his
surveys in North-West India where, the pest is most prevalent in the Salt
Range Area of the Punjab, hilly tracts of the North-West Frontier and the