RESOLUTION
ON THE
REPORT OF THE CIVIL VETERINARY DEPARTMENT, BURMA,
For the Year which ended on the 31st March 1921.
Extract from the Proceedings of the Government of Burma in the Agricultural Department, No. 34O.
dated the 16th May 1922.
READ—
The Report of the Civil Veterinary Department (including the Insein Veterinary School)
Burma, for the year 1920-21, and the remarks in the forwarding letter of the Secretary
to the Development Commissioner, Burma.
RESOLUTION.—During the year the Senior Veterinary Officer in the
Province was made the head of the Civil Veterinary Department in Burma with
the designation of Veterinary Adviser to the Government of Burma, and placed in
direct subordination to the Development Commissioner instead of to the Director of
Agriculture, who formerly exercised control over the working of the Department.
The superior staff was strengthened by the appointment of two new officers,
of whom one was specially selected by the India Office for the charge of stock
breeding operations. The number of Deputy Superintendents was also increased
by two, and, with a substantial addition to the strength of the subordinate staff,
the Department is gradually being freed from the shorthandedness which has
seriously hampered it in the past. The report does not explicitly refer to this
matter, but it would seem that the Department readily obtains suitable recruits.
A scheme for the revision of pay of the subordinate staff substantially improving
their prospects was sanctioned after the close of the year.
a. There was an appreciable decrease in the total mortality of animals from
contagious diseases, the total number of deaths reported during 1920-21 being
40,409 against 59,425 in 1919-20. The chief cause of mortality was, as in
previous years, rinderpest. The fall in the reported mortality cannot, however,
be taken as definite evidence that the year was a healthier one for cattle, as the
figures for Upper Burma, where mortality was heavy, are only estimates, since the
registration of cattle deaths has not yet been brought into force in the greater
part of the upper province. The question of further extending the system ought
to be considered, and the Lieutenant-Governor will be glad to receive a report
on the subject indue course. In Lower Burma there was a striking decrease in
mortality, due mainly to the diminished prevalence of rinderpest. In Upper
Burma, where the Sagaing Division suffered most heavily, the great increase of
mortality is attributed to the shortage of fodder resultant on drought which led to
underfeeding or feeding with substitutes for the usual fodder, with the consequence
that the cattle lost vitality and both became prone to attack by disease and poorly
resistant to it when it occurred.
The Shan States are reported to have been remarkably free from cattle
disease during the year.
Inoculation with anti-rinderpest serum is gradually gaining ground and the
immunity conferred by it is year by year extending in scope. The number of
outbreaks in which inoculation was undertaken and the number of animals
inoculated in 1920-21 are the highest on record, and it is evident that the
prophylactic value of inoculation is appreciated by a steadily increasing proportion
of the rural population who are impressed by the repeated demonstration of its
efficacy. No clearer evidence of the insurance which inoculation affords against
the loss of cattle by disease can be found than the fact that of inoculated cattle
only about 0.5 per cent. died in 1920-21.