16
Twelve cases of epizootic lymphangitis were reported from the Remount
Depot, Ahmednagar, and from Bombay City.
Bovine contagious disease.
6. Rinderpest was reported from all the districts except Belgaum. The
number of deaths recorded was 6,870 against 8,597 last year. This disease
was confined chiefly to the Northern and Central Divisions. An extensive
outbreak swept the Gujarat districts, Ahmedabad and Kaira suffering severely.
The outbreak reached its zenith in September, October and November and
gradually subsided in the last month of the year, only 99 deaths were recorded
in Kaira, Broach and Surat.
In Poona district a severe outbreak was prevalent at the beginning of the
year entailing heavy mortality in the hilly tracts of Junnar taluka.
Thana, and to a less extent Kolaba district, suffered considerably as usual,
and there was a sharp outbreak in the Malegaon taluka of the Nasik district.
The Southern districts were comparatively free except for a few sporadic
outbreaks.
7. Foot and mouth disease was prevalent as usual in all the districts and
accounted for 343 deaths out of 9,285 animals reported to have been attacked.
8. Hæmorrhagic Septicæmia was reported from 15 districts, Kaira, Kolaba
and Belgaum suffering most. The total recorded mortality was 724 against
689 last year.
9. Black-quarter accounted for 214 deaths in six districts of which 146
were reported from Poona district.
10. Anthrax was reported from 12 districts and 283 deaths were reported.
11. Other contagious diseases include variola and infectious lymphangitis
in cattle.
The latter disease is recorded for the first time in the Presidency and was
found to be prevalent to some extent in the Kanara district where 74 animals
were attacked and 14 died.
The nature of this disease is under investigation by the Imperial Bacterio-
logist to whom material was sent for the purpose. Meanwhile cases are being
treated by surgical means.
Contagious diseases in others animals.
12. No deaths under this head were reported by the revenue officials
except 8 cases of sheep-pox. Diseases of sheep and goats are not reported by
the revenue officials, but from reports of the staff there seems to be a considerable
mortality amongst them from contagious pneumonia.
Seventy-six cases of rabies in dogs were dealt with by the Veterinary
Staff and 41 brains were sent to the Bacteriological Laboratory, Parel, for
examination.
Spirochœtosis and avian Diphtheria in Poultry were reported from
Dharwar and Fowl Cholera from Dharwar and Panch Mahals.
13. In previous reports reference has been made to the incomplete nature
of these statistics. This year no mortality statistics were received from the
revenue officials in regard to 551 outbreaks, including Surra 11, Rinderpest 181,
Foot and Mouth 208, Hæmorrhagic Septicæmia 96, Black-quarter 21 and
Anthrax 17. Our figures therefore give a very inadequate idea of the actual
mortality and in view of the attention that is being called to the depletion of
herds a more accurate means of appreciating the influence of contagious disease
in this respect would seem desirable.
Preventive measures.
Table III.
14. The number of inoculations against rinderpest amounted to 24,432.
These were carried out in only 205 outbreaks out of
444 outbreaks which were attended by the Staff.
In the outbreaks in which inoculation was performed 3,978 un-inoculated
animals and 202 inoculated animals died.