75
Mohand Pass.
Kathgodam.
Mohand Pass.
Karnal.
The blood of one hundred and thirty-five equines was submitted to microscopical examina-
tion at the four stations of the Pass, with the following results :—
Of thirty-four animals stationed at Mohand, no case of Surra was discovered.
Of thirty-five animals at Tunbara, no case of Surra was found.
Of eighteen animals at Landibara, no case of Surra was found.
At Asarori, out of thirty-four animals stationed there, two horses were found to be
suffering from Surra.
The remaining fourteen animals examined were either ekka ponies or animals locally
owned; in all the Surra hæmatozoon was absent.
Water.—The rainfall during this season has been fitful, but has not lasted any time
although falling heavily for several hours on each occasion.
Samples of water were obtained for examination between Saharanpur and the Mohand
Pass, from swamps, ponds and ditches.
Samples of water were also obtained for examination from Mohand, Tunbara, Landibara.
Four samples from the river and ponds at Asarori.
Flies.—Hundreds of flies belonging to some ten different species, together with ticks
from equines and canines were collected and their body fluids submitted to microscopical
examination.
Fish.—The blood of small fish obtained from the Mohand Rao was also submitted to
microscopical examination.
Owing to the presence of a severe outbreak of Surra, amongst the dâk ponies stationed
between Kathgodam and the Naini Tal Brewery, which first showed itself in July 1896, it was
no use wasting time in the microscopical examination of the water, etc.
At every station up the road where the animals were standing one had only to observe
the flies on the diseased horses to see that their body cavities were distended with blood, and
they passed freely from one animal to another. On microscopical examination of the blood of
eleven tonga ponies at Amparao stable, the Surra hæmatazoon was found to be swarming in
ten, and absent owing to a period of intermission, in the eleventh.
Filariasis.—The blood of one hundred and thirty-five equines was submitted to micros-
copical examination at the four stations of the Pass, with the following results :—
Of thirty-four stationed at Mohand two animals presented Embryo-filaria in their blood.
Of thirty-five animals at Tunbara the blood of five contained the filaria. One animal
with two bursati sores on the hind fetlocks presented an average of forty-eight
filariæ in each cover-glass of blood examined. A second animal presented ten in
each specimen.
Of eighteen animals at Landibara the blood of all was free from the filaria.
At Asarori, out of thirty-four animals stationed there, three presented the Embryo-filaria
in their blood in small numbers.
On microscopical examination of the blood of thirty-six Government Siege Train Bullocks
only one presented the Embryo-filaria.
No cases of " filaria oculi" in horses have occurred since the supply of water from the
swamps in Nos. II and V have been shut off or filled in, as recommended in January 1896.
In the four years previous to this, 1892 to 1895 inclusive, thirty-nine cases of filaria oculi and
fifty-one of paralysis occurred, of which four and thirty-four respectively died or were
destroyed.
Classification of certain species of flies caught upon the bodies of animals, the subjects of
Surra.
All species of flies may become dangerous by transferring disease germs, which adhere
to their mouths and limbs, from one animal to another, as when alighting and feeding
upon the blood of a Surra patient, they transfer their attentions to equines with some exposed
wound or slight solution of continuity of the skin. In such a case it is almost inevitable that
the healthy animal will contract Surra. The species of Diptera which are essentially
dangerous on account of their formidable bite are provided with pointed instruments as sharp
as needles, with which they pierce the cuticle and draw blood with the greatest ease. These
species of flies are able to obtain for themselves, in the absence of sores on the bodies of the
affected animals, the soiled material with which they may inoculate the healthy animals they
bite. The flies which infest equines the most during different seasons of the year in this
country appear to be as follows—All through the year the Hippoboscidæ, two varieties (i)
which principally attacks bovines and equines, (ii) a smaller variety, which infests dogs. In
the plains at the beginning of the rains the Mhet (Burmese), a species of Tabanus, was always
observed, as also in Poona and the Mohand Pass (North-Western Provinces).
In the hot season, especially towards the end of May and the beginning of June before
the rains set in, the large green-eyed fly, the Tabanus lineola or an allied species, is present in
great force. Sometimes it re-appears during a spell of fine weather during the monsoon season,
in September or beginning of October, but directly the cold weather sets in these flies may be
found dead by hundreds.