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suspected cases were discovered and an Inspector was deputed to act in
conjunction with the local Veterinary Assistant; 27 animals were tested with
mallein, and eleven were found diseased. I inspected them before destruction.
The local Assistant, Babu K. B. Dey, during this outbreak worked well.
The next outbreak occurred at Tewara Factory in Muzaffarpur District.
Fifteen ponies belonging to the owner of the Factory and to some local men
of the cultivator class were put to the mallein test, and of these three proved
to be infected and were destroyed.
The cases reported from Patna were not brought to the notice of this
Department, but were reported from the Police thanas at the end of the year.
An enquiry is in progress, the result of which will be communicated to
Government.
10. Anthrax.—The total number of deaths from Anthrax was eight only,
six of which occurred in the district of Patna, and two in the Sonthal Parganas.
They were not confirmed by microscopical examination. Many more cases of
this disease undoubtedly occur but are ascribed to various other causes, e.g.,
poisoning, or are given the names of other diseases which show similar symp-
toms, through the ignorance of those reporting and recording at the thanas.
11. Surra and Dourine.—No reliance can be placed on the reports of
Surra and Dourine from the Sonthal Parganas; they are probably untrue. In
answer to the request for explanation called for from this office, the district
authorities stated that the information had been compiled from reports from the
thanas at the end of the year. The cases were not brought to the notice of
the Veterinary Assistant or Magistrate.
12. Since the beginning of the present year Veterinary Assistants have
been instructed to make periodical inspection of all ekka and hackney ponies
with a view to discovering disease and preventing cruelty. District Officers
have most cordially co-operated in introducing this measure; if rigorously
enforced, it should lead to most satisfactory results.
13. Proposals for the extension of the Glanders and Farcy Act to the
whole Province are now before Government for consideration.
14. (b) Bovines Rinderpest.—This disease was prevalent more or less
throughout the entire Province; but especially so in the districts of the Burdwan,
Orissa, and Bhagalpur Divisions; Bihar was singularly free from the disease.
The total number of deaths was greater than that of the previous year by
2,395, due not to the greater prevalence of the disease but to more accurate
reporting. All reports were attended to promptly either by the local Veteri-
nary Assistants or by the Inspectors of this Department. Towards the close of
the year a virulent type of this disease made its appearance at the Dairy Farm,
Suri, district Birbhum, and among the Siri herd of Government cattle at
Kalimpong, Darjeeling district. Some valuable bulls and cows succumbed.
A report on the outbreak at Kalimpong was sent to the Director of Agricul-
ture, and also to the Inspector-General, Civil Veterinary Department.
15. Foot and Mouth disease.—Was prevalent as usual in many districts,
especially in Darbhanga, Puri, Ranchi and Singhbhum. It is practically
certain that the high mortality reported from Puri as occuring in Foot and
Mouth disease is grossly inaccurate. An Inspector is now inquiring into the
subject, but no doubt the returns are based on incorrect information sub-
mitted by the thanas.
16. Hœmorrhagic Septicœmia.—The total number of deaths from Hæmor-
rhagic Septicæmia as reported by the District Officers was 1,546. The disease
is widely prevalent and causes great loss. A reliable preventive serum or
vaccine against this malady is urgently required.
17. Black Quarter.—The District Officers of Champaran, Muzafferpur,
and Sonthal Parganas have shown in their returns deaths from Black Quarter.
During February 1909, this disease was detected in Muzafferpur by the Sadar
Itinerant Veterinary Assistant, and a bacteriological examination made at
the Bengal Veterinary College Laboratory confirmed the diagnosis. An
attempt to inoculate the cattle failed, owing to the objections of the villagers.
18. Anthrax.—The total number of deaths from Anthrax was 365 as
returned by the District Officers. The greatest mortality was in the Sonthal
Parganas where 319 deaths occurred. An enquiry is in progress regarding
the figures submitted from that districts.