J. F. SHIRLAW
359
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EQUINE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS AND KUMRI
Kumri (syn. equine paraplegia, ' Muttra' paralysis) has been defined
(Macalister) as a chronic, incurable disease of horses, characterized by inco-
ordination and loss of power in the hind limbs, but not attended with obvious
visceral disturbance, wasting of muscles or trophic skin lesions.
There is a general opinion, in India, that equine encephalomyelitis and
Kumri are essentially different diseases, although they may possess a super-
ficial resemblance. The importance of this latter disease may be assessed
by the comments of the Civil Veterinary Department, Madras, on the
Tinnevelly outbreak (1914):—
" The cause of this disease, commonly known as ' gone in the loins ',
being still obscure, it is not known in what way it is conveyed
from one animal to another but its ravages in this Presidency
in the past year were so great that it is put under this head
(Revenue). It was most apparent in Tinnevelly, where as
many as forty horses were said to be suffering from it at one time
but no part of the Presidency is spared from it. The financial
loss to this country from this disease is so great that it is strange
that so far an officer has not been put on special duty to in-
vestigate it."
It has been stated that the losses, direct and indirect, caused by this
disease in imported and thoroughbred horses exceeds that caused by all other
equine diseases put together.
Kumri is essentially a disease of imported horses, indigenous breeds are
generally considered immune. In enzootic areas, a similar disease is noted
in goats and other similar animals. The typical symptoms of this disease
are a peculiar stance. " The hind legs are placed wide apart, and the fore
legs are carried backward in order to take more than their usual share of the
weight. At a trot, the legs are swung outward (abduction) in an attempt
to clear the ground ". Marked incoordination of the hind quarters (para-
plegia) is seen. The disease is considered insidious in its onset and usually
progressive, although other cases have been observed in which the disease
was acute at its onset, the horse being found down in the morning with com-
plete paralysis of a degree necessitating destruction. Macalister states that
" the onset of the disease may be explosive, accumulative or insidious."
Sartin [ 1879 ] describes retention of urine or incontinence as an invariable
symptom. Poyser [ 1885 ] states that the heart is always seriously implicated
and the same writer refers to acute brain cases (what must now be accepted
as equine encephalomyelitis) existing along side of typical Kumri cases in
the same outbreak. Burke [ 1897 ] found loss of sensation in some cases, in
the quarters and perineum.
Monoplegic and hemiplegic cases are noted and occasionally the disease
spreads forward and may involve the fore limbs and neck. The symptoms
are, according to Macalister, due to a spastic paralysis. Sartin describes
the constant post-mortem lesion as a spinal meningitis. Patchy inflamma-
tion of the intestines has been noticed as a constant lesion, and lesions of the
kidney (interstitial nephritis) have occasionally been observed (Macalister).
Naked eye lesions are generally absent in the brain. Some cases show chronic
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