Annual report of the Veterinary Department, Sudan Government.

  • Sudan. Veterinary Department.
Date:
[1931]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report of the Veterinary Department, Sudan Government. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    11/76 (page 6)
    ( 6 ) With a view of providing an additional weapon for use in combating cattle plague the Veterinary Research Officer carried out certain investigations the object of which was to produce a vaccine with keeping qualities superior to those of the cattle plague vaccines receiving attention in other countries. Unfortunately the extreme urgency of the situation in regard to the disease made it necessary to use this vaccine as soon as it was prepared and, while the antigenic value of the vaccine in the fresh state was proved beyond doubt, no other useful information was obtainable. The total number of deaths recorded from cattle plague during the year was l6,8l2 as compared with 15,if25 last year. The records available, however, are far from complete since the Rizeigat tribe alone in Southern Darfur are estimated to have -iost 20,000 head during the recent epizootic and the total losses suffered in the Upper Nile Province are estimated to have been in the neighbourhood of 100,000 head. The results obtained at the Serum Station during recent years with cattle of all ages and from all parts of the Upper Nile Province showed that all the cattle drawn from the area West of the Nile were susceptible to cattle plague, and from this it<: was deduced that that area had been free of the disease for a period of at least ten years. This was borne out by the losses recorded in uncontrolled outbreaks, when the disease became widespread during the past eighteen months, as the mortality sometimes exceeded 80%. As a result of exceptionally light rains in the Upper Nile Province last year the grazing and v^-atering conditions were such as to favour the rapid spread of the disease and the movements of infected game in search of grass and water were thought to have further accelerated the spread of infection. Infected game, particularly buffalo, were reported to have played an important part in spreading the disease in Mongalla Province and in Rumbek District, Bahr el Ghazal Province. When last year’s report was written it was thought that the outbreaks which had occurred in Dongola Province were then under effective control. Unfortunately recrudescences of the disease occurred during the first half of the year and 1 ,1/0 deaths were registered before the infection was finally stamped out. The consolidated returns of outbreaks of cattle plague for the past three years are given below but, as previously stated, these are far from complete V r ' No. of f No. of t No. of 1 t / & X ’ Outbreaks t t t Cattle involved t f deaths 1929 » I t 795 1 t t f 12,743 1930 981 f 180,540 f 15,425 ,1951 t 882 f 177,745 » 16,812