NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
27
of view of the owner of the stud the sterility which is associated with
this disease appears to be of greater economical importance than the
actual losses by abortion.
The study of imported American Donkey Stallions by means of
the agglutination test was continued with results similar to those al-
ready reported. It is interesting to note that in the case of five animals
in a batch of 16 newly imported stallions a rapid rise in the agglutina-
tion titre was coincident with the appearance of a severe orchitis. Un-
fortunately material from these animals was not available for cultural
examination.
IX.—GLANDERS.
Work in connection with the production of Mallein was continued
during the year, and it was observed that cases, where atypical and
unsatisfactory growths were obtained, were due to the formation of
the " rough " variant of this organism as described recently by workers
in Manchuria. These " rough " variants were especially pronounced
in flasks seeded with our older stock strains, and it is possible that the
difficulties recently experienced in the production of a satisfactory
Mallein have been due to this cause. Experimental work with this
variant has been delayed owing to lack of sufficient staff, but attempts
to obviate the difficulty by moving the pH of the medium towards the
alkaline side have already met with success.
In the early part of the year, an interesting specimen of glanderous
lung was received for opinion. From one of the lung nodules, of which
there were more than one type, an organism bearing the characters of
B. pseudotuberculosis rodentium was isolated by Mr. Naik and is still
under study.
X.—JOINT ILL.
Several cases of " joint ill" in foals were examined and in prac-
tically every case Streptococcus equi or B. abortus equi was isolated from
the lesions.
XI.—ANIMAL NUTRITION.
(a) The examination of the seasonal variation in mineral content
of the pastures at Muktesar has been completed. A marked variation
in the calcium and phosphorus content was observed.
(b) The phosphorus and calcium content of sera from the Muktesar
Dairy Herd was examined together with the mineral content of the
food tuffs supplied to them. Simultaneously an experiment to deter-
mine the effect of increasing the mineral content of the ration by the
addition of bone-meal was commenced. The results at present are
inconclusive and the experiment is being continued.
XII.—MISCELLANEOUS.
1. In addition to the work detailed in the preceding paragraphs
a large amount of routine work was carried out in both the bacteriolo-
28
gical and biochemical laboratories in connection with the testing and
standardisation of the products issued from the laboratory and in the
examination of specimens received for diagnosis or opinion. Seventy-
six samples of Anti-Rinderpest serum were tested during the year,
necessitating for this purpose alone the use of 385 hill bulls.
2. Routine Bacteriology :—
(a) Maintenance of over 200 stock cultures.
(b) Special vaccines supplied for issue :—
Bovine abortion
Equine abortion
Mixed Anti-streptococcic
Auto-vaccine .
Rabbit Septicaemia .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Doses.
1
97
198
50
350
(c) Other examinations—
Agglutination tests .
.
Rinderpest virus sterility tests
.
.
Sera and Vaccines (Bacterial counts)
Smears from outside sources
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
932
137
134
141
3. Routine Biochemistry :—
pH adjustments of media
pH estimations on sera
Analysis of bone-meal
Analysis of salt licks
Analysis of urine
Analysis of water
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
5
50
1
2
7
4
29
REPORT OF THE PROTOZOOLOGY SECTION.
(MR. S. K. SEN, B.A., M.Sc., F.E.S., in charge).
PROTOZOOLOGY.
I.—SURRA : DRUG TREATMENT.
(1) Equine Surra.—IN resporse to an inquiry made by the Director
of Veterinary Services Punjab, a short scries of experiments was under-
taken to test the value of " Bayer 205 ", when used prophylactically
in combination with tartar emetic against artificial cases of equine surra,
the object of the inquiry being to reduce the cost of such treatment
which would otherwise be incurred if " Bayer 205 " were used alone.
This line of inquiry was suggested by the fact that, according to Berg
(1925), a combination of " Bayer 205 " with tartar emetic was found
effective against Trypanosoma congolense infection in Africa, whilst
" Bayer 205 ", when used alone, proved valueless against this affection.
Careful trials carried out upon eight ponies (including two controls)
at Muktesar showed, however, that a combination of " Bayer 205 "
and tartar emetic did not possess any superiority over either of the
drugs used alone. It should be mentioned that the inquiry was pro-
ceeded with on the assumption that, as stated by certain recent autho-
rities, " Bayer 205 ", when used at the rate of 1 gramme per 1,000 lb.
body-weight, is sufficient to confer protection for a period ranging from
a fortnight to a month, although from a perusal of the available litera-
ture it would seem that this view is not based upon definite experimental
evidence, so that the actual dosage of " Bayer 205 " necessary for con-
fering protection may be higher than 1 gramme per 1,000 lb. body-
weight. It is proposed to undertake further work in this connection.
It ha been pointed out recently that the combined intravenous-
intrathecal method of treating equine surra with " Bayer 205 ", as
at present recommended by this Institute, is difficult to carry out under
field conditions in India, and the question has been raised whether suc-
cessful results cannot be obtained by using the drug intravenously
alone. To test the relative efficacy of the two forms of treatment, a
small trial was carried out upon eight artificially infected ponies, six
of which received the drug intravenously alone—two at the rate of
5 grammes and 4 at the rate of 8 grammes per 1,000 lb. body-weight,
whilst the remaining two were treated by the intravenous-intrathecal
method at the scheduled rate. Cure was obtained in all the eight animals
treated.
(2) Bovine Surra.—Reference was made in last year's Report (p. 25)
to a proposed investigation concerning the practicability of curing bovine
surra with certainty, so as to make these animals fit for export to coun-
30
tries that are free from this disease. A detailed programme of work
has now been drawn up in this connection and arrangements have been
made to house the experimental animals in specially constructed fly-
proof stables. The problem, however, is one that will call for sustained
observations extending over some years before definite conclusions can
be arrived at.
Mention was made in last year's Report (p. 25) of two buffaloes
having been infected (on 29th April 1930) with Trypanosoma evansi,
one of these having been later treated with " Bayer 205 " and the other
left untreated. The two animals have now been under observation
for a further period of one year, but in neither of these cases during
this period has any evidence of infection been obtained. Curiously,
contrary to the experience of last year, the untreated animal appears
to have steadily gained in weight, so that it would seem that the ani-
mal has got over the infection without the need of drug intervention.
II.—BOVINE PIROPLASMOSIS.
(1) Theileriasis of Cattle.—In October 1930, infective material de-
rived from an acute case of natural theileriasis was inoculated into
6 healthy hill bulls and into 6 others discontinued from rinderpest work.
Four of the healthy and 2 of the discontinued bulls died shortly after,
from causes other than theileriasis. Four of the remaining animals
have now been under observation for about 1½ years and none of these
has shown any symptoms of the disease during this period.
During the year under report, the Institute has been in constant
correspondence with the Military Authorities in India concerning the
health of a batch of nine Dutch bulls imported by them in 1930 and
an inspection of these animals was made by Captain Datta at Kirkee
in August 1931. Several of them commenced to show vague symptoms
of fever shortly after their arrival in India, but from the results of ex-
amination of their blood smears, these symptoms could not be definitely
attributed to any parasitic infection. However, two of the animals
eventually died—one at Secunderabad on the 12th August 1931 and
the other at Kirkee on the 16th November 1931, In the latter case,
definite evidence of acute theileria infection was obtained, for blood
smears taken post mortem from this animal showed very numerous Thei-
leria parasites, with the presence of intraleucocytic schizonts, which
were also observable in abundance in organ smears from the animal.
The question of the specific identity of Theileria parasites occurring
in imported bulls has till now been a matter of considerable difficulty,
and the views extant on the subject would appear to be that the para-
site concerned is either a virulent variant of Theileria mutans or a strain
of T. parva (the cause of the so-called East Coast Fever), but of much
degraded virulence. From a perusal of available literature on the sub-
ject it would seem, however, that in the case just referred to, the animal
died of T. annulata infection, for the symptoms exhibited in this case
bore a striking resemblance to those described by du Toit in a paper
31
presented by him at the Eleventh International Veterinary Congress
held in 1931.
(2) Drug Treatment.—The value of Plasmoquine in the treatment
of theileriasis was strikingly illustrated in an acute case of the disease
in a hill bull at Muktesar, in August 1931. In this case the disease
had advanced so far that about 80 per cent. of the red blood-corpuscles
were invaded by the parasites, whilst Koch's bodies were demonstrable
in large numbers in the blood smears. About 5 injections of Plasmo-
quine, in doses of 16 c.c. of a 1 per cent. solution, brought about a defi-
nite recovery in this case, although the parasites were still observable
in small numbers in the blood. However, the expectation that had
been originally entertained in regard to the efficacy of this drug has
not been fulfilled in certain recent cases of theileriasis in imported bulls,
as is illustrated by the fact that in the case of the Dutch bull referred
to above, even a very intensive course of treatment with Plasmoquine
failed to prevent the disease from progressing to a fatal issue. The
problem of finding out a suitable remedy for this disease, therefore,
still remains to be solved and work is now in progress to " try out "
in this connection several new drugs (e.g., Todorit, Piroblue) that have
been introduced into the field of Veterinary science. The prosecution
of this inquiry is, however, hampered by the fact that it is extremely
difficult to secure suitable subjects upon which to test the efficacy of
these drugs, inasmuch as acute theileriasis is of rare occurrence in cattle
indigenous to this country.
It was stated in last year's Report (p. 22) that the drug Trypaflavine
had been used with considerable success in the treatment of cattle piro-
plasmosis due to Babesia bigemina but that in certain cases the drug
had proved toxic for these animals. A series of experiments was there-
fore undertaken to estimate the minimum lethal dose of this drug for
cattle. In the course of these trials, it was found that the drug was
well tolerated when injected at 33 c.c. of a 1 per cent. solution per 210
lb. body-weight, but that when the drug was used at 25 c.c. of a 2 per
cent. solution, some toxic symptoms were produced which, however,
disappeared quickly. For therapeutic purposes, the drug has been
used intravenously at the flat dose of 25 c.c. of a 1 per cent. solution
for the ordinary hill bull, and when used in this manner, it has been found
to be thoroughly efficacious in acute cases of the infection.
III.—ANAPLASMOSIS.
A perusal of the available literature shows that this disease of cattle
has hardly been recorded in India, although it is a well known morbid
entity in certain other countries of the world, notably in Africa. The
so-called anaplasmata have now and then been encountered in the blood
of hill bulls at Muktesar, but these have, in practically all cases, proved
non-inoculable to healthy animals and a possible reason for this may
have been that the animals subinoculated were carriers of the disease.
Towards the close of the year, however, the presence of these bodies
32
in large numbers was encountered in blood smears taken from an im-
ported Ayrshire bull at Delhi and forwarded to this Laboratory for
examination, and this perhaps constitutes the first record of the occur-
rence of anaplasmosis in India outside Muktesar. An attempt was
made at Muktesar to reproduce the disease in rabbits and guinea-pigs
by blood inoculation, but the results were negative. In regard to the
bodies known as " Anaplasmata ", some doubt would appear to exist
as to whether these represent actual parasites or they are in the nature
of blood products or are merely artefacts. Dias and Aragao (1914)
claimed to have brought about the production of these bodies in cattle
and dogs by the simple injection of certain poisonous substances, such
as trypanblue, but their findings in the case of dogs have been disputed
by the South African workers who contend that these bodies did not
represent true anaplasmata but are merely " jolly bodies ". It has
been further maintained by du Toit (1928) that the production of true
anaplasmata in cattle by repeated injections of trypanblue can only
be brought about when these (the cattle) are " carriers " of the disease,
this being ascribed to the fact that the injections cause a breakdown
in their immunity, with the appearance of the parasites in their blood.
For reasons already mentioned, the hill bulls at Muktesar were regarded
as being mostly " carriers " of anaplasmata and seemed suitable sub-
jects upon which to test du Toit's hypothesis. Accordingly, eight
animals were each given a series of trypanblue injections ; of these,
four exhibited fairly large numbers of anaplasmata in their blood after
receiving 5 to 22 grammes of trypanblue. It is now proposed to test
the possibility of bringing about the production of these bodies in " clean "
animals maintained, since birth, in tick-free stables, and if the results
of these trials turn out to be positive, then the conclusion would, at
any rate, be provisionally warranted that the so-called " anaplasmata "
are in the nature of blood products.
IV.—BUFFALO MALARIA.
In the Report for 1929-30 (p. 19), mention was made of the occur-
rence of Malaria parasites in two buffaloes that were being utilized for
the purpose of anti-rinderpest serum production at Muktesar. During
the period under review, two further cases were encountered—both
in anthrax-serum makers that had received a series of anthrax (avirulent)
cultures about two months previously. In both cases, the presence
of the parasites was associated with anæmic changes as well as a high
elevation in body temperature, the parasites themselves being notice-
able in the blood smears for 9 days in one instance and 12 days in the
other. An interesting feature of the disease was the presence, in fairly
large numbers, of the so-called " crescent " form of the parasite in the
blood of both the affected animals, and it would be interesting to in-
vestigate the relationship of these forms with those encountered in
human malaria and the possibility of the buffalo constituting a reservoir
of the human " virus ".
33
An attempt was made to transmit the disease to healthy buffaloes
by means of the mosquito, Aëdes (Stegomyia) albopictus bred out in the
laboratory, but the results of these trials were negative. It is needless
to mention that in inquiries of this kind one cannot lay too much stress
on analogy, and the fact that human malaria is transmitted by anophe-
lines need not preclude the possibility of buffalo malaria being conveyed
by non-anopheline species of mosquitos.
V.—BABESIASIS IN GOATS.
Examples of protozoan parasites answering to the description of
Babesia sergenti were encountered by Mr. Krishna Iyer for (what is
believed to be) the first time in India, in some goats under rinderpest
experiment at Muktesar. Blood from one of these was subinoculated
into two healthy goats and both showed the parasites in their blood
after an incubation period of 8—10 days. One of the subinoculated
goats, however, showed the parasites only for two days and later died
of pneumonia, whilst in the other case the organisms persisted in the
circulation for about 10 days and the animal eventually recovered. In
both cases, the presence of the parasites was associated with anæmic
changes and a slight elevation of body temperature.
VI.—CANINE PIROPLASMOSIS.
(1) Piroplasma gibsoni infection.—Work on this most important
disease of dogs in India was continued. It was mentioned in last year's
Report that the presence of the parasites in the blood of dogs artificially
infected with the disease was never found to be associated with an in-
crease in their body temperature. However, during the latter part of
the period under report, practically all the dogs subinoculated from
the same strain of parasites developed febrile symptoms and this seemed
to point to the conclusion that the parasites had undergone an exalta-
tion in their virulence as a result of continuous " passaging ", extend-
ing over about 2 years, through susceptible dogs. In none of the ani-
mals, however, did the disease progress to a fatal issue, and the majo-
rity of these soon regained condition, although, in some instances, the
parasites persisted in the circulation for 6 months or more since their
first appearance in the blood. The total number of subinoculations
performed during the year amounted to 17.
The infectivity of the heart blood of a dog that had been previously
infected with P. gibsoni but later died of pneumonia, was tested upon
a healthy dog, and the latter developed the disease after an incubation
period of about 20 days.
A search was made for the developmental forms (schizonts) of the
parasite in the tissues of a dog destroyed at the height of infection (about
3 weeks after the infective inoculation), but none of these was encoun-
tered in any of the organ smears examined.
34
The absence of any pronounced clinical symptoms being a charac¬
teristic feature of P. gibsoni infection in indigenous dogs, some experi-
ments were carried out to test the possibility of resuscitating the disease
by setting up artificially an intercurrent P. canis infection and later
curing the latter by one or more trypanblue injections. The results
of these trials, however, were negative.
(2) Drug Treatment.—With a view to testing the efficacy of try-
paflavine for P. gibsoni infection, some preliminary trials were carried
out to estimate the minimum lethal dose of this drug for indigenous
dogs. In the course of these trials, it was found that these animals
were remarkably resistant to the drug even when injected at the rate
of 10 c.c. of a 1 per cent. solution per 25 lb. body-weight, although when
injected at 15 c.c., the drug proved somewhat toxic. The actual efficacy
of trypaflavine for P. gibsoni infection was tested in two instances, when
the drug was injected at the rate of 15 c.c. of a 1 per cent. solution per
25 lb. body-weight. In neither case was the injection followed by the
disappearance of the parasites.
(3) Transmission of P. gibsoni infection through the agency of the
tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus.—In connection with this work, very
substantial progress has now been made towards developing a suitable
method for feeding the nymphal and larval forms of R. sanguineus on
dogs (vide Report for 1930-31, p. 29). The present method of feeding
the ticks is a modification of one recently recommended by Nieschulz
and Wawo-Roentoe (1930) and consists in the use of special cloth covers
which enclose the ticks and are attached to the backs of the hosts by
means of Collodion and Chatterton's compound.
VII.—COCCIDIOSIS.
Two cases of coccidiosis met with during the year under report are
worthy of record—one in a dog at Muktesar and the other in a buffalo
calf in the Coorg District, the parasites in both cases being encountered
in fæcal material. In the case of the buffalo-calf, the parasites com-
prised two species—one a large form of yellow colour provided with a
micropyle and the other a small colourless form without a micropyle.
VIII.—FOWL SPIROCHÆTOSIS.
At the request of Dr. J. T. Edwards for a supply of specimens of
the tick, Argas persicus, infected with the fowl spirochæte (Spirochæta
anserina), a consignment of these was obtained from the Calcutta School
of Tropical Medicine. Before despatch to Dr. Edwards, the infectivity
of those ticks was tested, with positive results, upon a series of healthy
fowls at the Laboratory. An attempt was made to transmit the disease
to healthy fowls through the agency of larvæ hatched from eggs depo-
sited by infected ticks, but the results of these trials were negative.
A few consignments of fowl ticks were also kindly forwarded to this
Laboratory by Mrs. Fawkes-Ansell from Lucknow and by Miss Kalberer
35
from Bhim Tal, but these proved entirely non-infective when fed on
healthy fowls or when crushed in normal saline and the emulsion injected
subcutaneously into fowls.
IX.-MISCELLANEOUS.
(1) Trypanosoma lewisi infection.—Several cases of this infection
were encountered in rats while these were being utilized for work upon
the so-called " Adhesion Phenomenon " (infra). The natural occur-
rence of these parasites in rats made it a matter of some difficulty to
develop a pure strain of T. evansi in these animals when it was desired
to do so. On the other hand, some interesting observations were made
regarding the relative resistance of T. lewisi and T. evansi in rats to
drug treatment.
(2) Embadomonas in rabbits.—A species of protozoan parasite of
the genus Embadomonas was encountered in the blood of an experimental
rabbit, the parasites in this case having, in all probability, found their
way into the circulation from the alimentary tract. No cultural work
could be undertaken with this parasite.
(3) Adhesion Phenomenon.—An intensive series of experiments was
carried out to test out this " phenomenon " which has been claimed
by Davis and Brown (1927-28) to be a specific serological reaction occur-
ring in trypanosomiasis. The value of this reaction for diagnostic
purposes was tested upon rats experimentally infected from a strain
of T. evansi maintained at the Laboratory, but the results obtained
were entirely negative. The so-called " Red Cell Adhesion " (vide
Wallace and Wormall, 1931) was likewise put to a careful test for the
diagnosis of the same disease in rats, and although some evidence of
agglomeration was obtained, no actual adhesion was observed in any
of the trials.
X.—ROUTINE EXAMINATIONS.
17,134 blood smears from animals within the Institute were ex-
amined during the year, or 1,325 smears more than the number reported
last year. This number included 10,069 from cattle, including buffaloes,
and Babesia bigemina was found present in 882 or nearly 8.75 per cent.
and Theileria mutans in 2,790 or nearly 27.7 per cent.
ENTOMOLOGY.
I.—STUDIES ON THE BIONOMICS OF INSECTS AND ARACHNIDS.
(1) Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus—During the year under report,
the adult and young forms of this mosquito were met with for the first
time in a locality adjoining Muktesar. The finding is of considerable
importance in view of the constant demand that there is in this labora-
tory for living specimens of this mosquito for transmission experiments