176
Deg-Nala Disease of Buffaloes
sectioning of the blood vessels supplying the affected parts yielded negative
results. The still patent blood vessels well proximal to the lesions were
opened up and the contents specially examined for parasites, especially
nematodes. None were found.
Reference has been made to the grave prostration and cachexia evinced
in progressive cases. The reason for this is seen in a general post mortem.
The liver is enlarged, darker in colour and frequently bile stained. It is
increased in consistency. Haemorrhages are apparent in number under the
capsule and throughout the substance which bleeds excessively on incision.
The liver is literally swarming with schistosomes (S. indica). On holding
a web of mesentary up to the light, large numbers of these worms can readily
be seen, while the portal vein is teeming. So intensive is the invasion of the
portal venous system of the liver that inflammation of the veins has occurred
followed by rupture and haemorrhage, with fatty degeneration or necrosis
of the surrounding lobules. In some areas, there is complete destruction of
parenchymatous tissue with the formation of haemangiomatous areas. In
advanced cases, breakdown of the vascular system of the liver is striking.
Parasitic atheroma of the aorta was encountered in nine out of eleven
cases examined. In two cases, it was extensive, with degeneration of the
fibres of the elastic coat and development of aneurism. In one case, death
had resulted from rupture of such an aneurism at the root of the aorta. The
posterior aorta is affected more frequently than the anterior and in one case
an atheromatous lesion was observed in the left coronary artery. On sec-
tion, ' nests ' of nematode parasites are seen well below the surface of the
affected blood vessel, with numerous calcified patches. Worm tracks
and nodular, superficial pearl like lesions are visible on naked eye examina-
tion of the surface and teased preparations invariably yielded two types of
adult parasites (a) Onchocerca armillata and (b) Eleophora poeli, the latter
from the nodular lesions.
As this disease seemed, on circumstantial evidence, to bear some relation-
ship to the ingestion of poisonous plants or fodder in itself toxic through
immaturity, over-ripeness, or parasitism (e.g., ergot)—although no evidence
could be obtained on direct examination of the fodder that such might be
the case—the obvious procedure was to attempt to reproduce the disease by
the feeding of fodder from the Deg Nala area to three young experimental
buffaloes. This entailed an experiment lasting over a year, as it seemed
desirable to feed these animals with fodder selected from various parts of
the Deg Nala throughout all seasons of the year. The experimental animals
thrived. As a contrast to this experiment, and in some measure as a control,
three buffaloes in the early, mild phase of the disease were maintained for a
year at the Punjab Veterinary College on a nutritious, balanced ration. The
lesions in one buffalo underwent an early resolution, and the remaining two
progressed to a stage necessitating destruction. These results were not unex-
pected in view of the known fact that approximately 20-30 per cent of cases