73
PREVENTIVE INOCULATION AGAINST RINDERPEST IN THE
FIELD.
466. This is the first occasion on which I am able to report that this
Department has been in a position to deal with the various outbreaks of
rinderpest, and I trust to be able to note its extension in future.
467. The work has been entrusted to the Assistant to the Inspector-General,
Civil Veterinary Department, who has worked indefatigably. He has tried
the three systems, each of which have their advocates in South Africa, viz. :—
(a) The Pure Bile method.
(b) The Glycerine Bile method.
(c) The Simultaneous method.
Remarking on (a), he states :—
"The advantages of the Pure Bile method are:—The substance injected requires no preparing and is
obtainable wherever fatal cases of rinderpest occur."
" Its disadvantages are many, the chief of which are :—
" (1) The length of time (ten days) before it confers immunity.
" (2) The immunity which it confers is passive and probably only of short duration.
" (3) The difficulty of obtaining bile in sufficient quantity and of the desired quality.
" (4) Bile will not keep."
Remarking on (b), he states :—
" The Glycerine Bile method, which is merely a modification of the one just described, consists in the
addition of glycerine to bile in the proportion of one part of the former to two of the latter, the dose being
proportionately increased, but the mixture must be kept for six or seven days before use.
" Eddington, who is a strong advocate of this process, is of opinion that it is an improvement on Koch's
pure bile method, inasmuch as all biles which are not absolutely putrid, can be used after the addition of
glycerine."
"This opinion, however, has been questioned by Turner and Kolle, who have pointed out that galls which
are useless by Koch's process, because they possess no preventive power, cannot be made efficacious by the
addition of glycerine, which substance has no immunising effect but merely acts as an antiseptic. I cannot help
thinking, however, that too much stress has been laid on the physical properties of biles. The sample used in
the experiment at Hissar, described in a previous paragraph, was far from possessing the qualities laid down by
Koch, both as regards clearness, colour and smell.
Remarking on (c), he states :—
"The Simultaneous Method.—This is known as the Simultaneous Method of Dr. Turner and Kolle, by
whom it has been extensively practised in South Africa with much success.
"The operation consists in the simultaneous injection of one cubic centimeter of virulent blood, at one
part, and a dose of super-immunised serum, varying according to its strength and the size of the animal, at
another part. It is immaterial where these fluids are injected so long as they are sufficiently far apart to ensure
their not coming into contact before being absorbed, because in that case the serum, which is antimicrobic,
would neutralise the virulent blood.
"The simultaneous method would, I think, be about as perfect as could be desired if it could always be
relied on to produce its full action, i. e., cause a mild attack of the disease in all susceptible animals. But even
when this process does fail to infect, the immunising serum will, as already stated, confer a passive immunity
equal to that exercised by the bile in Koch's method, and the virulent blood does no harm whatever."
468. During the past year, 1,970 head of cattle were inoculated, viz.—
200 by pure bile method,
40 by glycerine bile method,
1,730 by simultaneous method,
With the following results :—
Method.
Pure Bile method .
Glycerine Bile method
Simultaneous method
TOTAL .
Nu mb e r inoculated.
200
40
1,730
1,970
BEFORE
INOCULATION.
Attacked.
107
23
211
341
Died.
20
5
105
130
Recovered.
87
18
106
211
AFTER INOCULATION.
Attacked between
1st and 10th day.
24
13
...
37
Attacked between
1st
and 4th day.
...
...
29
29
Died.
2
4
9
15
Recovered.
22
9
20
51
Attacked after
10th day.
...
...
...
Attacked after
4th day.
...
...
60
60
Died.
...
...
3
3
Recovered.
...
...
57
57
L