The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-01-12
AFRICAN HORSE SICKNESS.

| Ominous Significance of the Telegram
Announcing Its Appearance.
With the prolongation OF the war il
South Africa the dangers of cur cav
airy and transport animals suffering
from the occurrence Of the deadly
horse Sickness which is peculiar tc
South and Central Africa. and to lie
equine family become imminent. Its
exceptionally early appearance has
been reported among the Boer horses
near Ladysmith, but all horses, mules,
and donkeys in South Africa are liable
to it, with the exception of the COM
paratively few specimens of "salted'
animals which have recovered from
| two attacks of the malady. Probably
50 per cent. Of the horses affected die,
and of mules almost as many, while
donkeys, being subject to a milder
| form of the disease, do not suffer Sc
verely. Their taking it, however, would
render them unserviceable for the pres
emf campaign.
Horse sickness (Oedenfa mycosis), is
|
a micro rganism--one of the filamen-
| toses fungi-rwhich under suitable con-
ditions of heat and moisture grows in
the veldt, but whether in water. ON the
| soil, or as parasite it is not yet
| known. Under the microscope the Veg
| etative spores of the fungus in the
blood from a hrose well advanced in
| the disease can be easily seen like SO
many minute beer barrels, and the my
celium on which they have grown can
also be found on closer examination.
| The disease Is not contagious, but Is
contracted in summer by animals
| which are exposed to night air, espe-
cially while mist rises from the ground,
or which are permitted to consume
food wet with dew or the exhalations
of the night The summer sun renders
it harmless by day. and the advent of
frost banishes it during the winter
months. In most parts of South Afri-
ca the dangerous season extends from
the New Year till early in May, but in
some seasons the disease appears
sporadically during November and De-
cember. Low lying areas and valleys
are the dangerous places. High
pldteduS nave SUCH lIlilIluillty lidL ~
is common practice to send horses
from low country to Craze on these
areas during the summer months. An
unexplained popularity of the disease
is that although it appears every year
in one or more districts, it only in GER
tain seasons becomes general over
large areas. Seven serious epizootic
outbreaks have occurred in South Afri-
ca since the first historical one In 1865
On one occasion 10000 horses and
mules, worth over half a million ster-
lins, died.
At least two varieties of the disease
are known-the common form, the
Boer 'paardziekte,' in which the lungs
are the most seriously affected owing,
no doubt, TO the disease having been
contracted by breathing, and "dikkip-
ziekte,' in which swelling of the head
and neck, or Of the tongue, forms the
i1iost prominent symptom ~ poth
varieties tiie iilcuoatiol' peilou' pe
tween 'ne ti'he the olsani'is gam az
cess 10 the system ana the Hrsl sudden
rise Oh temperature is ABOUT eish' uays,
put "Hiie .he lotiiier usuaiy .eriiii-
mates fatally N ABOUT WE'VE Gays
from tle ohse1 VI 'iie Initial lisoi,
aeath IN the iattsT IS sehefaily oelayeu
lof rev oaFs iioIe' Al tAe coiliii'oii
FORM OF horse slchness uea'h ocruis
very suddenly altei tne temperature
mas rises ABOUT loo degrees Fahrenneit.
Inc ANNA, leeus lreeiy w WithlH
IeW minutes OF ueath, anu Wheil tle
crisis occurs ~ Is SIMPLY uiowiieu IN
an eNuuaeloh o. Us own pioou SCI uiii
hto the ar PASSAGES ihese become
gorgeo WIN dense White ifot1.
Whlch does not coliapse on portlon OF
IT, IKE d mass OF soap puppies, peing
blown from the mouth ana hostrlis IN
the oeath struggle. both FORMS OIL the
dlsease can De INDUCED IN healthy
horses py Venous lhocuiatloh' ana an
othef form locally SITUATED III the ap-
uoinet mas peeh produced ny lhsestioh
through mixing the plood OF as
eased morse with the amman rood'
Numerous experiments by the direc-
tor of the archaeological institute at
Grahamstown have shown that no
material can be obtained from the
bodies of animals which have died Of
the malady that can be used in prac-
tice to produce immunity in healthy
animals" The use of serum from ami
mails that have recovered from the dis |
ease has also proved abortive. A meas
ure A measure of success has how !