340
Equine Encephalomyelitis in India
Poyser writing on Kumri [1885] states : " The question of causation
attracted more than ordinary attention whenever it (Kumri) assumed an
epizootic character and was unusually fatal. Further opportunity (to study
the disease ?) was not met with until August, September and October 1884
when so-called Kumri appeared in Meerut in an epizootic form among the
horses of the 8th Hussars and among private horses. Such cases occurring
simultaneously at Saharanpur have been called Kumri, at Ambala and Muttra
paralysis, and in Morar, Brain disease or paralysis. Kettlewell believes that
some cases are complicated with cerebro-spinal meningitis and it is not un-
likely that this complex phase may obtain, as he says, in some and possibly
in the worst cases. It is to be distinctly understood that the recent equine
epizootic in Meerut is no new disease : it is simply a very old one with a new
name and the same with which the writer had to contend in Meerut twelve or
thirteen years ago, there and then registered as Kumri or paralysis."
Lingard [1896] describes an outbreak of equine paralysis which he investi-
gated at Karnal (Punjab) and comments on peculiar ' acute cases '. It is
interesting to note that Lingard ascribed this disease to forage poisoning.
Similar outbreaks occurred at Tinnevelly (Madras) in 1914-15, Secunder¬
abad (Deccan) 1916 and Saharanpur 1923. Among four hundred and twenty
five horses at Secunderabad, twenty-two contracted paralysis, fifteen of which
had to be destroyed, one dying of the disease. At the same time, four chargers
of the 2/7th Hampshire Regiment became affected at a fresh centre in Secunder-
abad and three died. It appears obvious, therefore, that an acute cerebral
form of the disease (equine encephalomyelitis) was not unusual, in epizootic
orm, in certain areas in India where Kumri was rife.
The observations of these workers constitute the earliest efforts in organis-
ed veterinary work in India. The subsequent history of the disease may be
gleaned from the Annual Administration Reports of the Army Veterinary
Service in India. In 1921-22, sixty horses were affected with " disease of the
nervous system ", eight died and twenty-five were destroyed. Horses, mules,
buffaloes and camels are also noted to have been affected with cerebro-spinal
meningitis, encephalitis, congestion of the brain, epilepsy, general paralysis,
paraplegia, vertigo, chorea and hemiplegia, and it appears obvious that a
considerable proportion of these cases, at least, were either Kumri or encepha-
lomyelitis. Succeeding reports indicate the comparative and fluctuating
frequency of these affections.
Outbreaks of equine paraplegia were recorded at the Army Remount
Depots at Sargodha, 1923, at the same time as an outbreak at Saharanpur,
but it was not until the year 1926-27 that the army reports make mention of a
serious outbreak of ' forage poisoning ' at Jhansi (U. P.) in the horses of the
16th Light Cavalry. The outbreak commenced in September, 1926 and within
a few days, sixty-one animals were affected, of which twenty-nine died. In
addition to this outbreak, eight cases of a similar nature occurred at Mona
Remount Depot during October, five cases dying and one recovering. The
disease reappeared at Mona in February 1927, six horses being affected with
five deaths. These cases were attributed to sorghum poisoning, but the
clinical histories suggest equine encephalomyelitis.