8
" of it on the spot. An inspecting staff is absolutely necessary for the proper "
"performance of this work, and for supervising large outbreaks when several "
" Veterinary Assistants are employed. With a proper staff and a supply of"
" serum we can deal, I believe, with rinderpest, and, possibly, in the near "
" future with other scourges in the same way. The greatest number of inocula-"
" tions took place in the Ferozepore, Lahore and Rawalpindi Districts, and the "
" following Veterinary Assistants deserve credit for good work in this connect
" tion :—Kotu Ram, Harbilas, Ghulam Mohammad, and Ahmad Baksh."
Anthrax.
Galgothu not Anthrax.
Hæmorrhagic septicae-
mia.
" During the year, 4,787 cases of anthrax were reported, of which 88.3 "
" per cent. died, against 628 cases last year, when the mor-"
" tality was 76.1 per cent. These numbers are larger than "
"for some years, and only three districts, viz., Miánwali, Muzaffargarh and Mont-"
" gomery escaped entirely. Only 9 cases were reported from Dera Gházi Khan "
" and only one from Mooltan. The largest outbreak occurred in the Karnál Dis-"
" trict where 984 animals were attacked, of which 912 died. A comparison of the "
"figures in the respective districts is most interesting in view of the remarks I "
" am about to make on this disease, and will well repay study if a knowledge of "
" the climatic conditions is brought to bear, A reference to my report of "
" last year will show that I expressed an opinion that the disease known in the "
" vernacular as " Galgothu," and which clinically resembles anthrax and was "
" classified as such by Veterinary Assistants, was not an-"
" thrax at all. Some material from an animal suffering "
"from this disease was sent to the Imperial Bacteriologist, who informed"
" me that it was " hæmorrhagic septicaemia." Professor "
" Lingard also informs me that he hopes to be able to "
" provide us in time with a serum for it. Hæmorrhagic septicaemia principal-"
" ly attacks buffaloes, but cattle are also affected, and it is not uncommon for "
" donkeys to die in some numbers during an outbreak. Sheep and dogs are "
" said to be refractory. Veterinary Major Pease, who has done so much for "
"veterinary literature in this country, wrote a note on this disease in 1897,"
"but Veterinary Assistants do not appear to have been acquainted with it, and "
" it did not at that time receive the importance it deserved. I have now in- "
" structed them carefully on the difference between anthrax and hæmorrhagic "
" septicaemia, and their reports lead me to the conclusion that, practically,"
" the whole of the cases hitherto reported as anthrax in cattle are cases of"
" hæmorrhagic septicaemia. More than that, I have not yet been able to find a "
" single authenticated case of anthrax in cattle. It possibly occurs, because I"
" myself have seen cases of anthrax in horses in India, and I have more than a"
" suspicion from clinical reports that sheep and goats get it fairly commonly."
Anthrax in sheep and
goats.
" Time and opportunity will set this question right. It is unlikely that"
" Chamærs suffer any evil effects from eating the flesh of "
" animals dying from hemorrhagic septicaemia, but Mr. "
" Joseph, C. S., Kulu, tells me that men die rapidly from eating the flesh of goats "
" that die from a disease which, from the clinical symptoms, is, probably, anthrax."
" This points to anthrax, and also accounts for the surprise which was ex-"
" perienced when one heard that men ate with impunity the flesh of animals"
" which had died of anthrax, now diagnosed as hemorrhagic septicaemia."
Hæmorrhagic
septi-
caemia
and
anthrax
scheduled together.
" This year, hæmorrhagic septicaemia and anthrax have been classed "
"together as anthrax, but I suggest to the Government"
" of India the advisability of instituting in future years a "
" column for hæmorrhagic septicaemia apart, as it appears "
" to be only second in importance to rinderpest, at any rate, in the Punjab "
" Veterinary Major Pease, in the note above referred to, says : — " It"
" (hæmorrhagic septicaemia) is most prevalent in the rains, but may appear "
" at other times of the year and specially following the Christmas rains. It"
" seems to be more prevalent in lowlying land subject to periodical inundation,"
" but it is by no means confined to such spots." The comparison of the "
"mortality figures under anthrax with these remarks is the interesting point I "
" spoke of above, and my experience leads me to exactly similar conclusions. If "
"a preventive inoculation is introduced against hæmorrhagic septicaemia, it"
" is unlikely to be of such utility as the inoculation against rinderpest. The "