NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
36
THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [VII, I
Twenty drugs were tested as to their efficacy for this condition, but the results
were unsatisfactory. A short series of trials was also carried out to test the value
of premunition against the disease and the results were encouraging.
The species of parasite concerned in this form of infection presents a close
resemblance to Theileria dispar, as described by du Toit [1930a].
REFERENCES
Bevan, Ll. E. W. (1924). East Coast Fever—The Theory of Latency. Trans. Roy.
Soc. Trop. Med. & Hyg. 18, 328-335.
Carpano, M. (1930). The Transmission of East Coast Fever (Theileriasis due to Thei-
leria parva) by means of Circulating Blood, and certain considerations regarding
the Differences between Theileria parva and Theileria annulata. Clin. Vet. 53,
261-268. [Abstr, in Trop. Vet. Bull. 18, 120 ; 1930.]
Cooper, Hugh (1925). Report of the Imperial Bacteriological Laboratory, Muktesar for
the two years ending 31st March, 1924, p. 49.
Donatien, A., & Lestoquard, F. (1931). Les Theilerioses. Rev. Vet. et J. Med. Vet.,
83, 305-331.
Doyle, T. M. (1924). The Occurrence of Blue Bodies as a Developmental stage of Thei-
leria mutans. J. Comp. Path. & Therap. 37, 18-27.
Ducloux, M. E. (1905). Sur vine piroplasmose bacilliforme du boeuf en Tunisie. C. R.
Soc. Biol. 59, 461-463.
du Toit, P. J. (1930 a). Theileriasis. Reports for Sectional Meetings, Eleventh Internat.
Vet. Cong. 3, 539-571.
–––––––––(1930
b). Eleventh Internat. Vet. Cong. 1, 402-403.
Edwards, J. T. (1925). Report of the Imperial Bacteriological Laboratory, Muktesar,
for the two years ending 31st March, 1924, p. 48.
––––––––– (1930). Eleventh Internat. Vet. Cong. 1, 396.
MacHattie, C. (1935). Theileriasis of young calves in Baghdad Dairies. Trans. Roy.
Soc. Trop. Med. & Hyg. 28, 649-654.
Mason, F. E. (1922). Egyptian Fever in Cattle and Buffaloes, J. Comp. Path. &
Therap. 35, 33-39.
Oboldouef, G., & Galouzo, J. (1928). La Theileriose des bovides en Asie Centrale.
Ann. Inst. Past. 42, 1470-1479.
Richardson, U. F. (1930). A suggested Relationship between Theileria mutans and
East Coast Fever. Trans. Roy. Soc. Trop. Med. & Hyg. 24, 343-346.
Sergent, E., Donatien, A., Parrot, L., Lestoquard, F., & Plantureux, E. (1927). Etudes
expérimentales sur les des piroplasmoses bovines d' Algerie. Ann. Inst. Past.
41, 721-784.
THEILERIASIS OF CATTLE IN INDIA
37
Sergent, E., Donatien, A., Parrot, L., & Lestoquard, F. (1931). La premunition contre
les piroplasmoses bovines dans l'Afrique du Nord. Ann. Inst. Past. 47, 63-72.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––(1932).
Suppression expérimentale de
la reproduction sexuée chez un Hæmatozoaire Theileria dispar. C. R. Acad. Sci.
195, 1054-1056.
Theiler, A. (1930). Eleventh Internat. Vet. Cong. 1, 401-402.
–––––––––––, & Graf, H. (1928). Quelques observations récentes sur la nature de
Gonderia mutans. Ann. de Parasit. Hum. et Comp. 6, 4-17.
Turnbull, D. O. (1926). Tropical Piroplasmosis in the Fort Jameson District in North¬
Eastern Rhodesia, with Plasma Bodies representing Developmental Stages of a
Parasite morphologically similar to Gonderia mutans. J. Comp. Path. & Therap.
39, 307-311.
Van Saceghem, R. (1924). Les Theileriases. Note preliminaire. Bull. Soc. Path.
Exot. 17, 637-639.
Velu, H., & Eyraud, A. (1915). Observations sur diverses formes de piroplasmes,
rencontrées sur des bovins indigénes de la Chaouia. Bull. Soc. Path. Exot. 8,
643-646.
Walker, J. (1930). Eleventh Internat. Vet. Cong. 1, 398-400.
, & Whitworth, S. H. (1929). Artificial Immunization and Immunity
in their Relation to the Control of East Coast Fever. Kenya Dept. Agric. Bull.
No. 8 of 1929, p. 18.
Yakimoff, W. L., Rastegaieff, E. F., & Lewkowitsch, E. N. (1932). Gonderia (=Thei¬
leria) mutans in Russland (UdSSR). Arch. Protistenk. 78, 628-634.
*PNEUMONIA IN FOALS DUE TO CORYNEBACTERIUM
EQUI
BY
V. R. RAJAGOPALAN, G.M.V.C.,
Assistant Veterinary Research Officer, Imperial Veterinary Research Institute,
Muktesar
[Received for publication on 22nd December 1936]
(With Plates VIII—XI and two text-figs.)
INTRODUCTION
AMONG the various diseases which afflict young foals in the breeding estab-
lishments of India, strangles, joint-ill or pyo-septicaemia due to streptococcus,
S. abortus equi, Shigella equirulis, and Escherichia coli, and pneumonia due to
streptococci are well known. An examination of the history of foaling of any of the
large breeding establishments will, however, usually reveal a number of other losses
variously ascribed to causes such as high-fever, pneumonia, suppressed strangles,
colic, diarrhoea, bronchitis, pyaemia and debility, and it will be shown in this article
that a large number of such cases, especially those denoted as pneumonia occurring
within the first 12 weeks or so of birth, are due to a specific micro-organism, a pig-
mented diphtheroid, namely Corynebacterium equi. It is also probable that a
large percentage of cases known as suppressed strangles are due to infection with
the same micro-organism, as the first few cases from which material was submitted
for examination, and from which knowldege was first obtained with regard to the
precise cause of the pneumonia, were forwarded to us as possible cases of suppressed
strangles.
* Paper read before the Indian Science Congress, Indore, 1936.
(38)
PNEUMONIA IN
FOALS
39
A thorough search into the current periodical literature has shown that an
organism identical with the one found in India has been previously incriminated in
certain other countries as a cause of pneumonia in foals, although this has not yet
been described in any text-books on veterinary medicine or bacteriology. This is,
however, the first time that the occurrence of this organism as the specific cause of
pneumonia in foals has been recorded in India, or indeed in Asia.
Magnusson [1923] was the first to describe a pigmented diphtheroid in associa-
tion with specific pneumonia in foals and he recorded 12 cases of its incidence in a
breeding establishment in Southern Sweden. To this organism he assigned the
name Corynebacterium equi. Subsequently Meissner and Wetzel [1923], Lutje
[1923] and Lund [1924] recorded its incidence in Germany. Outside Europe this
condition has been described in South Australia by Bull [1924] and by Dimock
and Edwards [1931] in America.
Since 1924, when this condition was first brought to the notice of this Institute,
a number of cases have been known to occur year after year in at least two of the
horse-breeding establishments in the Punjab. At first it was thought that the
condition was a form of strangles, for, among a batch of foals in a paddock, several
became ill, and some cases developed the typical sub-maxillary lesion of true
strangles, while others developed into cases of pneumonia. Subsequent epide-
miological observations and transmission experiments proved that the two condi-
tions were quite distinct. Thus, pneumonic cases were known to occur during
several seasons in which no strangles cases occurred : Out of a batch of 15 mares
with foals at foot which had been made up straight from the foaling boxes (i.e., the
mares which foaled in the open were brought into a loose box for about 9 days and
then drafted into a paddock) into a fresh paddock in which there had been no
animals for several months previously and which had had no history of strangles,
eight foals went down with fever and pneumonia, none of them showing external
signs of strangles. Strangles was finally eliminated by reproducing the typical pneu-
monia in young foals with Corynebacterium equi, which had been maintained in
subculture.
Although the disease may occur through all the seasons of the year, it will be
observed from Fig. 1 that its incidence is highest in the summer months.
40
THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
[VI
Ind. Jour. Vet. Sci. & Anim. Hus., Vol. VII, Part I.
PLATE VIII
FIG. 1. Foal No. 386. Infected by instillation of culture into the nostrils.
Note the swelling of the hock joints.
FIG. 2. Natural case of C. equi—pneumonia in a foal with joint lesion, off-hock.
(By courtesy of Major Sinton.).
PNEUMONIA IN FOALS
41
There would also appear to be a definite age susceptibility to this disease. The
writer had an opportunity to examine an extract of the history of foals bred in one
of the infected breeding establishments, and here the average age at which death
took place from pneumonia worked out at two months and six days. There were
cases which died within one month of birth and rare cases which died at as late as
7 months, but the majority of cases (60 per cent) died between the first and third
month of birth, vide Fig. 2.
Carne [1927] in Australia has described an atypical case of the disease in an
eight-year-old mare. Here the chief lesion was located in the kidney in the form
of a haemorrhagic nephritis, the lungs showing only a few pea-sized nodules in the
place of the large abscesses that are found in the lungs in cases of the typical
disease in foals.
SYMPTOMS
The onset is marked by a low fever, which after a day or two may attain 104-
105° F. or over. There is concurrently a watery discharge from the eyes and the
nostrils. There is laryngitis with a sharp choking, dry cough. There is also
snoring. The foal becomes very dull, its appetite is impaired and its pulse and
respiration are increased. Occasional cases show symptoms of joint-ill (Plate VIII,
figs. 1 & 2). Indeed, one of the cases that was forwarded to this Institute had
actually been destroyed for joint-ill. The hock is the joint that is usually involved,
the swelling sometimes extending to the fetlock. Soon, symptoms of pneumonia
set in with marked distress in breathing, which is of the abdominal type. There is
a double-heave in expiration. Moist rales and crackling gurgling noises may be
heard on auscultation. There is constipation followed by diarrhoea with pale
yellow frothy faeces. The foal loses weight, becomes very emaciated and dies
within 8 to 10 days, although occasionally death may not occur for 20 days after
the onset of the symptom. In foals that were artificially infected by the intra-
nasal route, the period of incubation was found to be from six to eight days.
POST-MORTEM FINDINGS
The carcase is emaciated. The ribs are prominent, and where joint-ill is
present, the hock-joint contains slightly haemorrhagic gelatinous fluid. On open-
ing the thoracic cavity, the lungs are found to be studded particularly in the middle
and the right lobes, with abscesses of the size of a small pea to that of an egg or even
larger (Plate IX, fig. 1 & Plate X, fig. 1). These abscess cavities contain fluid
or inspissated pus, which may emit a characteristically bad odour. The medias¬
tinal lymph glands are enlarged and contain huge abscess cavities (Plate IX, fig. 2).
The mucous membrane of the intestines is congested and contains slimy frothy
G
42
THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
[VII, I
FIG.2
Ind. Jour. Vet. Sci. & Anim. Hus., Vol. VII, Part I.
PLATE IX
FIG. 1. Foal No. 386. The appearance of the lungs in situ. Note the bunch
of abscesses and areas of hepatisation.
FIG. 2. Foal No. 386. The anterior mediastinal
gland with abscesses.
FIG. 3. Microphotograph of C. equi Smear from
24 hours broth culture stained Leishman
(×1200). Note the beaded appearance
of the rods.
Ind. Jour. Vet. Sci. & Anim. Hus., Vol. VII, Part I
PLATE X
FIG. 1. Foal No. 386. The lungs.
FIG. 2. C. equi. 36 hours growth in a petri-dish kept
in an upright position. Note the mucoid
nature of the growth, flowing down.
FIG. 3. C. equi. 48 hours growth on agar slant. Growth had begun to flow
and gather at the bottom.
PNEUMONIA IN FOALS
43
faeces. Histologically the pleura of the affected lungs is seen to be infiltrated with
epitheloid cells. The interlobular septa are considerably thickened due to fibrinous
infiltration and newly formed thin-walled blood vessels. There is evidence of acute
bronchitis and peri-bronchitis, the bronchioles containing numerous neutrophiles
and cast off epithelial cells held together in a fibrino-mucin : extensive parenchy-
matous destruction is evident between the lobules, the alveoli are collapsed and
their walls are infiltrated with neutrophiles and large mononuclears, the former in
various stages of degeneration. The invading organisms are found almost every-
where lying in clumps, enclosed within peculiar giant-cell-like formations. It
would appear that when these formations become very numerous in any part,
then the lung tissue there undergoes necrosis and the softening of the necrosed
tissue gives rise to the pus-like material in the large abscesses to be seen by the
naked eye. In advanced stages where the entire lobule presents to the naked eye
the appearance of a suppurative lesion, the histological picture presented is one
of a mass of necrosed cells with large clumps of the organisms lying about.
BACTERIOLOGY
Corynebacterium equi, the causal organism, is recoverable in pure culture and
sometimes mixed with other contaminants, particularly streptococci, from the lung
abscesses.
The organism is a short cocco-bacillus with the axis straight or slightly curved.
Many are found to be almost coccoid in tissue smears and in smears from solid
media. They measure from 1.2 to 1.5 µ in length and 1 to 1.2 µ in breadth.
In liquid cultures they occur in comparatively longer rods. These may measure
up to 3 to 5 µ in length. Sides are usually parallel or slightly bulging, ends
rounded. They occur in clumps in tissue smears and singly or in pairs in smears
from broth culture. Some show a central or subterminal fusiform enlargement.
They are non-motile and non-sporulating. No capsules were demonstrable by
the Hiss's copper sulphate method. It is gram-positive but non-acid fast.
Stained by Leishman's stain it takes the basic stain and is beaded. The beads
may be bipolar and in long rods from broth cultures, they may number as many
as 4 or 5 distributed through the length of the rod (Plate IX, Fig . 3). The organism
does not take the Neisser's stain well and no metachromatic granules are demons-
trable.
On solid media the colonies are circular, about 0.6 to 1.2 mm. in 24 hours
but grow considerably bigger by the 24th or 36th hour, measuring as much as
6 mm. They are raised amorphous and have a smooth shining surface. They
have an entire margin, are butyrous in consistency and are readily emulsified into
a homogeneous emulsion when rubbed down with water. In the first few days
they are of a dull-fawn colour but later develop into a brick-red or pink colour
(Plate XI). The organism grows abundantly in stroke culture, and is mucoid in
appearance, but it does not draw off into a thread when touched by a platinum
44
THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [VII, I
loop. Very soon, within 24 to 48 hours, the growth begins to flow down the incline
of the agar slope and gathers at the bottom (Plate X, Figs. 2 & 3). In stab
cultures growth is confined to the surface.
There is a moderately good growth in broth culture, with a slight uniform tur-
bidity, which is sometimes more marked in the top layer. There is a slight imper-
fect granular surface ring growth at the junction of fluid and glass and this has a
tendency to climb up the wall of the tube on shaking. In long-standing cultures
in flasks, islands of granular scum may be seen unevenly distributed over the sur-
face. There is a moderately abundant powdery deposit which takes on a fawn
colour with age. The deposit disintegrates almost completely on shaking. No
special odour is attached to these cultures. It grows profusely in blood agar, but
produces no haemolysis.
Resistance.—The organism is killed by heating a 24 hours broth culture in the
water bath at 58° C. for one hour.
Metabolic properties.—The organism grows best aerobically, and moderately
under micro-aerophilic conditions. It does not grow under anaerobic conditions.
It forms a brick-red to salmonpink coloration on solid media, particularly when
kept exposed to light. Growth on sodium tellurite agar is black in colour. No
growth is visible on a Mac'Conkey plate in 24 hours, but in from 2 to 3 days minute
streptococcus-like colonies 0.2 to 0.25 mm. in diameter make their appearance.
It does not grow in Kesslers' [1926] medium containing 1 in 20 of bile and one in
25,000 of gentian violet, nor does it grow in Salle's [1930] medium containing 1 in
50,000 of crystal violet.
Biochemical reactions.—About 25 carbohydrates consisting of mono-saccha¬-
rides, di-saccharides, tri-saccharides, poly-saccharides, alcohols, glucosides and the
benzolic compound ' Inosite ' were tested for fermentation with negative results.
Litmus milk is not changed. It is M. R., V. P., indol, ammonia, hydrogen sul-
phide, and M. B.-reductase negative, and is positive for the catalase test and for
nitrate reduction.
PATHOGENICITY
No toxin was demonstrable in the filtrates. The organism was not pathogenic
for Guinea-pigs and rabbits by the intraperitoneal, subcutaneous, intratracheal and
intravenous routes. Strangely, two rabbits fed with freshly isolated cultures
behaved differently. One of these showed a temperature collapse on the 2nd day
after feeding and died that night. The other showed a slight temperature reaction
of 103° F. from the 18th day and was destroyed on the 20th day. The lungs of the
latter showed a few nodules. Corynebacterium equi was isolated from both these
rabbits. The results of small animal inoculation are tabulated in Table I.
Several attempts were made to reproduce the disease in ponies and foals.
The results are tabulated in Table II.
Ind. Jour. Vet. Sci. & Anim. Hus., Vol. VII, Part I.
PLATE XI
C. equi : 4 days' growth in agar plate kept in an upright position. Note the
pink colouration
PNEUMONIA IN FOALS
45
TABLE I
Experimental infection of small animals
Animal
species
Guinea pigs
Rabbits
Animal
No.
290 B
292
222
223
169
170
171
172
173
587
588
Nature of
culture
Broth 48 hours
Agar.
Brown 4 opa-
city.
Broth.
2 days growth
Agar.
Brown 4 opa-
city
Broth
2 days growth
Agar
Brown 4 opa-
city.
Dose
1 c.c.
0.25 c.c.
0.25 c.c.
5 c.c.
5 c.c. daily
for 3 days.
0.5 c.c.
to
1 c.c. of Brown
4 opacity.
0.5 c.c. of
Brown
4 opacity.
Method
Intra-perito-
neal.
Subcutaneous.
Intra-tracheal
Drenched
Fed.
Intravenously
repeated
every 6 days.
Intra-tracheal
Reaction
Slight tempera-
ture ? 8th to
11th
day.
Nil
Nil
Nil
Nil
Temperature re-
action
from
18th day.
Nil
No fever. Tem-
perature
col-
lapse on second
day.
Nil
Rise of tempera-
ture to 107 by
2nd day, fed
fairly
for 8
days.
Nil.
Agglutination
test
Not tested.
18th day ne-
gative.
Not tested.
13th day ne-
gative.
50 on 22nd
day.
Not tested.
Result of
experiment
Lived.
Dis-
continued.
Lived. Disconti-
nued.
Lived. Discon-
tinued.
Lived. Discon-
tinued.
Destroyed 28th
day.
Destroyed 20th
day.
Destroyed 19th
day.
Died night of
2nd day.
Destroyed 29th
day.
Died 29th day
after 1st injec-
tion and 1 day
after last injec¬
tion.
Destroyed 27th
day.
Culture
Not examined.
Sterile.
Sterile.
Blood } Nega¬
Lung
tive.
Lung nodules and
lung substance
pure
culture.
Blood—Nega-
tive.
Blood } Nega¬
Lung
tive.
Lung : Pure cul-
ture.
Blood : Negative
Lung } Nega-
Blood
tive.
Heart blood—
Pure culture.
Negative.
Lesions
No lesions.
No lesions.
Nodular lesion
without limit-
ing structure.
Massed plasma
cells in symp¬
lasma. Large
number of eosi-
nophiles. No
organisms de¬
tected in gram¬
stained
sec¬
tions.
Not examined.
Lungs congest-
ed. Diarrhoea.
Nil.
46
THE INDIAN JOURNAL OF VETERINARY SCIENCE AND ANIMAL HUSBANDRY [VII,
I
TABLE II
Animal
number
Foal
88
Foal
93
Foal
94
Foal
95
Pony 89
Pony
90
Pony
91
Pony
92
Foal 386
Age
Young
1 year
1 year
1 year
7 years
5 years
8 years
Aged
1 month
and 3
weeks
Mode of
infection
Drenched with 1
litre culture.
Drenched with 1
litre broth culture.
Drenched with 100
c.c. broth culture.
Intravenously 100
c.c. broth culture.
Drenched with 1
litre culture.
10 c. c. culture in-
travenously.
10 c.c. culture sub-
cutaneously.
Control. No ino-
culation.
Instilled 5 c.c. of a
800 millions per c.c.
emulsion of C.
equi
into the
nostrils and trot-
ted the foal for ½
an hour.
Body weight
On
arrival
lbs.
..
196
190
176
336
294
368
360
..
At death
or discon-
tinuance
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
Agglutination
On
arrival
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
10 days
after in-
fection
..
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
20 days
after in-
fection
..
Neg.
Neg.
Neg. At
death
negative.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Neg.
Result
Died 14th
day.
Lived
Lived
Destroyed
45th day.
Lived
Lived
..
Lived
Died 18th
day.
Symptoms and lesions
Pneumonia. Asbcesses in
the lungs.
Slight temperature from
14th to 19th day only.
No reaction . . . .
Temperature
reaction
from the 12th day.
Swelling
of
off-hind
fetlock from 14th day
which extended to the
hip accompanied with
much pain. The swel-
ling began to decrease
by the 33rd day.
Supprunative arthritis.
No reaction . . .
Slight temperature 10th
to 20th day only.
..
Nil
Temperature of about
101.5 from 5th to the
7th day with watery
discharge from nostrils
and eyes. Sudden kick
in temperature to 106
by the 8th day, which
ranged from 102 to 104
until just before death
when there was a sudden
temperature
collapse.
Swelling of both hock
joints on 11th day which
Culture
Pure culture of C. equi
from the abscesses.
Not attempted.
Ditto.
Pus from limb—Pure
culture of C. equi.
Not attempted.
Ditto.
..
Not attempted.
Heart blood = sterile.
Mediastinal
gland=
Pure culture of C. equi.
Pus from
lungs = C.
equi and hæmolytic
streptococci.
Left
Hock
joint=Sterile.
Right hock joint=Ps.
aeuginosa.
PNEUMONIA IN FOALS
47
Pony 342
Foal
382
Foal 387
3 years
5
months.
2
months.
Swabbed nostrils
with nasal dis-
charges and pus
from the lung and
mediastinal gland
abscesses from
foal 386.
As pony 342 .
10 c. c. of a 100-
million emulsion
instilled into nos-
trils.
..
..
82
..
..
70
..
Neg.
Neg.
..
Neg.
Neg.
..
Neg.
Neg.
No reac-
tion.
No reac-
tion.
Died 17th
day.
extended
downwards.
Symptoms of pneumo-
nia started 9th day, be-
came very aggravated
by the 13th day and
the animal died on the
18th day.
Post-mor-
tem :—abscesses medias-
tinal gland and lungs.
Slightly
hæmorrhagic
gelatinous semi-coagu-
lated fluid with a few
masses of fibrinous ad-
hesions in the right hock
joint.
..
..
Fever temperature 103
on 7th day with cough,
increased
respiration
and
pulse.
Diurnal
variation in temperature
from the 10th day.
Pneumonic patches no-
ticed in loft lung 15th
day. Diarrhœa
16th
day. Died 17th day.
..
..
During life: 15th and
16th day blood culture
C. equi. 16th day-
Fæces
culture
Pratinum }Positive for
spadeful
C. equi.
After death :
Loopful
of heart
blood
= Negative
Loopful of
fæces
. =
Do.
Spleen
. = Positive for
C. equi.
Mediastinal
gland . = Positive for
C. equi.
Nasal mu-
cosa
.= Positive for
C. equi.
Lung abs-
cesses
= Positive for
C. equi.