VETERINARY SCHOOL), BURMA, FOR THE YEAR ENDED THE 31ST MARCH 1922.
7
The number of Assistants on special duty during the year are shown below
together with the names of districts :—
Tharrawaddy 2, Thatôn 1 and Insein 1.
Assistants in Lower Burma visited 19,036 villages and those in Upper 19,717.
Outbreaks attended amounted to 1,783 in Upper Burma and 1,541 in Lower
Burma, and number of animals treated amounted to 56,919 and 54,062 respectively.
The average number of days spent by Veterinary Assistants in touring was
209.08 in Upper Burma and 213.35 in Lower Burma.
VI.—GENERAL REMARKS.
17. Cattle Disease.—Upper Burma as in the previous year has again suffered
most from disease. Large outbreaks of Rinderpest, however, have been confined
to a few districts only, Upper Chindwin, Katha and Pakôkku being those which
suffered heaviest losses. The outbreak in the northern part of the Gangaw
Subdivision is attributed by the Subdivisional Officer to importation from Kalewa.
It was confined to riverine villages and here the same apathy was shown by
owners as that noted elsewhere in the report in the neighbouring Upper Chindwin
District, carcases being thrown into the Myittha River. In Katha District
similarly was the disease spread by carelessness on the part of the villagers.
18. Segregation Rules.—In the above noted instances non-observance of the
rules no doubt played its part in contributing to the general havoc. But even
amongst such generally shown disinclination to depart from the old established
custom of do nothing and trust to luck, there are cases of individual effort to
prevent spread of the disease by attempts at isolation of animals. On the whole
in most districts the rules would seem to be understood and carried out. Pam-
phlets on various diseases, their symptoms, cause and prevention, have been printed
and distributed. The system of examination and award of prizes to Headmen and
others in Districts for knowledge in matters pertaining to cattle diseases would seem
to bear good fruit. In Kyauksè District where these examinations have been held
for some years the cattle owners are reported not only to segregate affected
animals on the appearance of the disease but also to treat such a disease as Foot
and Mouth with one or other of the ordinary disinfectants sold on the market
before even reporting the outbreak. The conditions governing work in this
connection, however, in only too many areas are well expressed in the words of
the Subdivisional Officer, Katha, relating to the outbreak under report, " No
prior arrangement or plan of action had been organized to secure prompt isolation
of infected cases and an uncontaminated water supply for the remainder. The
villagers generally merely looked after their cattle in different parts of the jungle
by day and tied them up at night. There was no effective supervision of the
rule against migration, a clear village would prevent cattle coming in from a
known diseased village but a fairly extensive migration to the Mohnyin paddy
plain, with cattle, was certainly not stopped, though most of it came from or
across the diseased area. The villagers did not apparently object to a traffic
from an infected village, but only to a suspected animal being herded with
theirs. I came across one striking example of the entire selfishness of the
villagers as to spreading the disease : one animal in the most troublesome stage
of Rinderpest was lying in the Meza Bank and its owner said it did not matter
its being loose, as all the animals in the village had been infected or exposed to
infection without contracting disease."
19. Veterinary Inspectors and Assistants.—-The work of these is generally
commended by district officers. With regard to recent severe losses in the
Upper Chindwin the Deputy Commissioner remarks, " the Veterinary staff have
all worked hard and had it not been for their efforts the mortality would probably
have been much larger."
The names of those reported as deserving special mention in district work
are:—
Veterinary Inspectors.—Maung Lu Pe, Maung Pe (2), Maung Po Thin,
Maung Kyaing, Maung Kin, Maung Po Kha and Maung Gyi (2).