ANTI-RINDERPEST INOCULATION OF CATTLE                  3

      Cattle of any age may be inoculated including calves as young as a few weeks
old, provided they are in strong condition.

      It is recommended that the operation should be carried out upon cattle as
early as practicable after purchase, and in calves, as soon as they are six months
old.

      Cattle of two teeth and over usually require no further inoculation during
their life-time, but animals immunised at less than this age should be submitted
to a second immunisation after reaching it.

                        3. SEASON FOR INOCULATION.

      Serum-simultaneous inoculation can safely be carried out at any season of the
year. Ordinarily, however, it is preferable to select a cool dry season when animals
are likely to be in the best possible condition.

      During a natural outbreak of rinderpest in unprotected animals at any season
of the year, it is sound practice and strongly to be recommended that this form of
inoculation be used in preference to the serum-alone method. All in contacts, not
exhibiting fever or other visible signs of the disease, should then be inoculated.

      It has been the practice hitherto in many places to brand each animal given
serum-simultaneous inoculation. A large letter " O" has been branded with a
hot iron upon one quarter. This practice is to be recommended as it provides a
distinguishing mark between immunised and unprotected animals in a herd.

            4. SEGREGATION AND DISINFECTION MEASURES.

      In natural circumstances rinderpest spreads to susceptible animals by direct
contact with affected cattle in the early stages of the disease. Since animals
undergoing serum-simultaneous inoculation must be considered infective for about
a fortnight, the main precaution to adopt is to restrict movement of the in-
oculated animals.

      If a segregation camp is well fenced, or if the inoculated animals remain
constantly tied up and the camp is situated at least half a mile from sheds contain-
ing unprotected animals or a public highway, then precautions, other than the
ordinary rules of disinfection, are unnecessary.

      Inoculated animals should be under the care of special attendants who must
not be allowed to come into contact with uninoculated animals. It is a good
practice to keep a sufficient number of smocks at the entrance of all sheds or enclo-
sures where the inoculated animals have been accommodated. These smocks are
used by the attendants while they are at work with the animals, and are taken off
and left at the entrance when they leave their work.