3
disease appears to have been introduced into Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur by
cattle from the District coming in contact in the grazing grounds in Begusarai
and Monghyr Sadr Subdivisions with animals brought from Gaya and
Patna, where there had been severe outbreaks some time earlier in the year.
Enquiries made in Samastipur pointed to considerable mortality in these grazing
areas, but it was impossible to get much information on this point from the
goalas, as they were very reticent and truculent. Attempts made to immunize
their cattle were complete failures, and they threatened to remove their stock
if persisted in. The District Magistrate, Monghyr, and the Vice-Chairrnan,
District Board, Rai Bahadur Lachmi Prashad, took considerable trouble in these
outbreaks, but their efforts met with no better success. In Shahabad, it appears
to have been spread by the animals sent for grazing to the hills in the
south of the District bringing it back with them to the villages on their
return, and also by the droves passing through from Mirzapur, Ghazipur and
Benares districts of the United Provinces, which border it on the west and
north. Though prevalent in Sasaram during the previous cold weather, its
first appearance in Buxar Subdivision was in July in a few villages in the
southern thanas. Some inoculations were carried out by the Veterinary Assistant
with difficulty, but it failed to cross the East Indian Railway main line to
the diara owing, in my opinion, to the complete isolation of most of the villages
by the floods., which interfered with the movement of the cattle to a great
extent during the rains. With the aid of the Inspector and Veterinary Assist-
ants, who were brought in to assist the local staff, statistics of mortality were
collected in 273 villages, and it was found that 6,810 deaths occurred out
of 9,492 affected ; 2,789 deaths occurred in Sasaram, 1,384 in Bhabua, 2,629 in
Buxar and 8 in Sadr Subdivision. The high mortality was, I think, due
to the bad conditions under which the cattle had to remain, during the
long period when the country was under water, which was practically during
the greater part of July, and the whole of August, September and October;
the death-rate appears to have been highest after the floods. The early flooding
of the eastern portions of the Samastipur Subdivision, and the Sadr Sub-
divisions of Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur helped, I believe, to check the
spread of the disease to other parts of Tirhut for similar reasons. In Purnea
a large number of deaths took place principally along the north bank of the
Ganges, and in the southern thanas of the Sadr Subdivision. In conse-
quence of the absence of roads in this district, many outbreaks had to remain
unattended. Similar remarks apply to Shahabad, and the south-eastern
parts of Darbhanga where touring can be done, only with the help of elephants
in the rains, or in the cold weather. In Hazaribagh, the disease was very
virulent for a time, and caused a large number of deaths in the neighbourhood
of Hazaribagh town. The cattle of the Reformatory School were inoculated,
but ten deaths occurred out of 25 attacks owing to insufficient doses having
been employed.
The total number of deaths reported from all districts is 19,144 out of
33,970 animals affected in 1,829 outbreaks. The Veterinary Assistants attended
914 out of this number, and could not give assistance at any others for the
reasons already noted in previous paragraphs. The suppression of information
regarding outbreaks continued as in previous years, and it is with the greatest
difficulty that chaukidars can be got to help, owing to the pressure brought to
bear on them by villagers.
Foot-and-mouth disease.—One thousand seven hundred and forty-eight
outbreaks were reported, out of which 530 were attended. The number of
affected animals was 39,740; and only 838 arc reported to have died. This
disease is unimportant, and does not of itself, usually, cause very great
mortality, unless complications set in.
Hæmorrhagic Septicæmia.—During the past year 5,584 deaths arc recorded
out of 7,330 animals attacked, as compared with 4,016 deaths in 1915-16.
Eight hundred and ninety-six outbreaks were brought to the notice of the staff,
and of these only 406 could be attended. It caused considerable mortality in
Gaya, Patna, Bhagalpur and Balasore. No deaths have been reported from
Champaran. It was diagnosed microscopically in ten instances.