ORIGINAL ARTICLES

            OBSERVATIONS ON THE EXISTENCE OF CONTAGIOUS
                BOVINE PLEURO-PNEUMONIA IN BRITISH INDIA
                  WITH AN ACCOUNT OF PRELIMINARY PATHO-
                  LOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF CASES OF THIS
                          DISEASE REPORTED FROM ASSAM

                                                BY

                                J. F. SHIRLAW, M.R.C.V.S.

Pathologist, Imperial Veterinary Research Institute, Mukteswar-Kumaun

                (Received for publication on 5th December 1938)

                                  (With Plates V and VI)

SINCE the earliest days of veterinary organisation in British India, the
question of the existence of contagious bovine pleuro-pneumonia has frequent-
ly recurred. Over this question opinion has always been divided and no
satisfactory answer has yet been given. The wide areas to be covered the
difficulties in disease nomenclature, the insufficiency of an expert staff com-
petent to differentiate between the various types of bovine pneumonia have
all contributed to this failure to reach conclusions regarding this problem.

Many standard authorities quote the existence of the disease in India ;
others refer to its existence in vague or ambiguous terms, while the majority
fail to mention it at all, the presumption being either that no authentic in-
formation was available or that they considered it not to exist.

Hutyra and Marek state : " In Asia, the disease appears especially wide-
spread in the Russian territories as well as in India ". Baldrey and Williams
[1909] make mention of the disease in India and Woodruff [1934], Moore
[1906], Miller [1935], Gaiger and Davies [1938] state that it exists in Asia.
As the latter writers do not specifically exclude India, it must be concluded
that their opinion is that the disease does exist here. Edmonds and Walker
[1929] consider that the occurrence of contagious bovine pleuro-pncumonia
in India is doubtful. Henning [1932] mentions the existence of the disease
in central Asia and India.

Currasson [1936], in writing on contagious bovine pleuro-pneu-
monia states : " L'Inde anglaise a été très atteinte a la fin du xix^e siècle :
dans la seule province de Bombay il y avait, en 1894, 1,215 malades. Depuis.
elle est moins inquiétante. En 1929 et 1930, il y avait encore de foyers dans
quatres préféctures ".

Edwards [1927] in a discussion at the Far Eastern Association of Tropical
Medicine, when speaking of the peculiar anomalies of geographical distribu-
tion of diseases in eastern countries, said : " One knows very well that pleuro-
pneumonia is a very serious and widespread affection of cattle over a large

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