Volume 1

Report on horse surra / by Alfred Lingard.

  • Lingard, Alfred.
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report on horse surra / by Alfred Lingard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    amongst the horses and baggage animals of the 19th Bengal Lancers. These observations were made under the personal supervision of Inspecting Veterinary- Surgeon W. T. Russell, 2nd Circle, at the present time the Principal Veterinary Officer in India. The outbreak in 1886 commenced on the 3rd July, and terminated on the 22nd December of the same year. During this period 48 animals succumbed to the disease, viz., 25 horses and 23 grass-cutters’ ponies, thirteen and six of each respectively having died, the remainder being destroyed. For those animals which died, the average number of days of the disease was for horses 36, and for ponies 6. The outbreak of 1887 extended over 151 days, from September 6th, 1887, to February 4t.h, 1888, and attacked horses, ponies and mules. Forty-seven in all died or were destroyed. Veterinary-Surgeon Steele happened to be in Meerut at the time of the epidemic, and at once recognised the disease as Surra, organisms having been discovered at a later date in the blood of 15 out of 20 animals examined. It is of interest to notice that seven other animals were discovered suffering from fever, with yellow and petechial condition of the conjunctive, and a more or less degree of constitutional disturbance, (symptoms frequently recognised by us in Poona, and by G. H. Evans in Burmah), but these animals were not affected with Surra and recovered after a few days. The outbreaks in Meerut as in other localities have occurred only at a special time of the year, i.e., from the rainy season well into the cold weather, and up to the present time there are no sporadic cases on record as having occurred at this station at other times of the year. The deaths during this period were in September, 10, October, 26, November, 7, December, 2, and January, 2. The average number of days of disease in cases that died, being for horses 52, ponies 30, and mules 19. In this series of cases, the Surra parasite was found in the blood at different periods of the disease in 43 out of the 47 attacked. Veterinary-Surgeon Nuttall apparently experienced the same difficulty in determining the exact commencement of the attacks in animals as has been found by other investigators. All attempts at curative treatment were negative. As regards the 'post-mortem appearances of the stomach, Mr. Nuttall states “ that it may be found in some instances replete with food, in others a little partly digested blood-stained material, fibrinous clots, &c.; and the organ usually the seat of special lesions; which may be ulceration or erosion either of the cuticular or villous portions, usually confined to the former, extending in some cases to perforation; the villous portion in places denuded of the epithelial lining, resulting from degenerative changes, and yellow pigmentation of varying intensity is constantly seen.” In the appendix to the report, it is stated that gastric lesions were found in the case of 25 horses, 15 ponies and 2 mules. * Ranking published in June 1891 a preliminary report, in which he states his opinion, that Surra is a disease of malarial origin comparable to ague, and that this view of the pathology of “ Surra ” is borne out both by the period of prevalence of “Surra” which corresponds with that of ague, and also by the results of treatment. Quinine in full doses appears to control the disease, sup- plemented by general measures to combat the ansemia and weakness consequent on prolonged illness, chiefly by milk, iron and arsenic. He believes that the facts put now on record will, if followed as guides to diagnosis, enable the disease to be detected in the earliest stages, when it may be rapidly cured; the reason why “ Surra ” has hitherto been so uniformly fatal he believes to be simply because its real nature was not apprehended, and the disease allowed to run on till the vital powers were sapped by the constantly recurring fever. * Ranking George, M.D.—A preliminary note on the nature and pathology of the disease known as “ Surra” affecting horses and nudes in India. Indian Medical Gazette, June 1st, 1891.