23S Report on the Contagious and 



refuse matter in which, portions of sheep were found, and which was conveyed 

 by means of a boat along the canal, near the field in which the sheep first 

 attacked were feeding. From Wiltshire the sheep-pox extended into Berk- 

 shire, and was not completely extinguished until October of the same year. 



The third outbreak took place in June 1865 neai- Newhaven, Sussex. In 

 this instance also the origin of the disease was unknown, but it was suspected 

 that carcasses of diseased sheep which were known to have been thrown iip on 

 the shore, close to which the sheep attacked were feeding, had communicated 

 the malady to them. Active measures of repression were at once taken, the 

 diseased flocks were carefully isolated, and day by day, as fresh cases occurred, 

 the diseased animals were killed and buried. Owing to the adoption of these 

 precautionary measures the aSection did not extend beyond the flock among 

 which it first appeared. 



The fourth outbreak occurred at Long Buckby in Northamptonshire, in 

 January, 1866. In this case the disease was introduced by Dutch sheep, 

 which originally were said to have come from Copenhagen, and were sold in 

 the Metropolitan Market. The affection was not discovered imtil after the 

 animals had been dressed by the purchaser for a skin disease which he 

 believed to be scab. Some of the animals having died, however, he was led 

 to seek the advice of a veterinary surgeon of the district, who at once decided 

 that the disease was sheep-pox. As soon as information was received at the 

 Veterinary Department an investigation was made, and the local inspector's 

 opinion was at once confirmed. In this case the disease was exterminated by 

 the slaughter and burial of the whole flock, and immediate application of 

 disinfectants to the hurdles and other things with which the sheep had been 

 in contact. 



The fifth outbreak occurred in March 1866 in Essex, in the districts of Earl's 

 Colne, Black Notley, and Great Yeldam. No difficulty was found in this 

 instance in tracing the origin of the disease to the introduction of foreign 

 sheep from Belgium. In August of the same year the disease was communi- 

 cated to sheep on three farms at Beaumont Oakley and St. Osyth, and shortly 

 after its appearance in those places it was detected on seven farms of Cheshire, 

 having been introduced there by foreign sheep which were purchased at 

 Harwich. 



In the same month a number of foreign sheep were stopped by the inspector 

 at Harwich, and slaughtered at the landing-place, in consequence of the 

 existence of sheejD-pox among them. This was the first instance of the 

 disease having been detected among animals landed at an English port. 



The progress of the disease in Cheshire and in most of the districts in which 

 it appeared in Essex was distinguished by a remarkably benign character. 

 All the districts where it appeared were declared infected, but in no case was 

 the stamping-out system applied. In some of the flocks the affection ceased 

 after a small per-centage of the animals had been attacked. In others, where 

 it manifested a tendency to spread, inoculation was had recourse to ; in all 

 cases the greatest care was taken to prevent the movement of sheep out of the 

 infected districts or the introduction of healthy animals into it, and the 

 affection finally died out without producing any great amount of mischief. 



Since the cessation of the outbreak in 1866 sheep-j^ox has not aj^peared 

 among sheep in this country, although foreign sheep infected with the disease 

 have repeatedly since that time been landed at Enghsh ports. 



In 1868 foreign sheep affected with sheep-pox were landed at English 

 wharves no less than nine times during three months. 



August 5th, the " ^Vaterloo " from Eotterdam landed 1314 sheep at Brown's 

 wharf. Sheep-pox was detected in a lamb of the cargo, and the whole of the 

 animals were consequently slaughtered. 



August 8th, the " City of Norwich " from Tonning landed 954 sheep at 



