No. 2486, REVENUE, 19TH AUGUST 1912.                               3

                  II.—TREATMENT OF DISEASE.

(i) Contagious disease.—The attempt to try and confirm the reports of
contagious disease by microscopical examination has been fairly successful. The
following table shows the number of specimens submitted by the staff during the
year, with the results of examination :—

The Superintendent being out in camp so frequently, the examination of most
of these specimens was kindly undertaken by the Principal of the Madras Veterinary
College and his staff. Owing to the lack of the necessary apparatus at this college
for examining certain specimens a few were sent to the General Hospital, Madras,
and the Bombay Veterinary College. The Superintendent considers that, generally
speaking, an improvement has been noticeable in the reporting of outbreaks of
contagious disease, although in a few districts difficulty is still experienced.

For example, the number of reported deaths from rinderpest in Madura district
ran into three figures for several consecutive months, yet as reports were not regularly
received by the touring assistant of the district he did not carry out sufficient
preventive inoculation. From enquiries it appeared that in at least some cases the
animals did not die from rinderpest, but the deaths were incorrectly entered under
that head. It is this ignorance on the part of the officials responsible for sending in
the returns that makes it so difficult to place any reliance on these figures of cattle
mortality at all.

Surra.—One horse affected with this disease was discovered at Vellore and
after the disease had been confirmed microscopically the animal was destroyed with
the permission of the owner. Two other animals were reported to have died of the
disease during the year. The Superintendent asked Government to schedule Surra
under the Glanders and Farcy Act throughout the Presidency, so that, supposing an
owner refused to have his animal destroyed, it could be done legally, and this most
dangerous source of infection removed; but Government did not consider the number
of attacks sufficient to necessitate the assumption of this legal power.

Rinderpest. - The scheme of keeping at least one touring assistant permanently
stationed in each district, so that no time would be lost in getting to the scene of the
reported outbreak appears to have worked successfully, for in very few cases, during
the year, did rinderpest assume such proportions as to require the help of the reserve
staff in Madras. Government however decided that in addition a mobile field force for
carrying out inoculation be organised, but the arrangements for this had not been com-
pleted at the end of the year. There were 10,572 cases of reported mortality from this
disease during the year under report as against 24,435 in the previous year. The fall
can be attributed partly at least to the early presence of the Veterinary Assistants at
many seats of outbreaks and the prevention of their spread. The fall in mortality in
turn explains the fall in the number of inoculations viz., 13,058 bovines as against
21,080 in 1910-11. The districts of Guntūr, Kurnool, Anantapur, Cuddapah,
North Arcot, South Arcot and Salem were practically free from the disease and no
inoculation was necessary there.