272 Annual Report for 1912 of Royal Veterinary College. 



outbreaks 1911 was the best year on record, and the past year 

 is still better. It is very satisfactory also that the number of 

 counties affected is being gradually reduced. 



FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE. 



During the year 1912, 83 outbreaks, with 645 animals 

 attacked, were reported. The outbreaks during the previous 

 year numbered 19, with 487 animals attacked.' 



Parasitic Mange. 



The parasitic mange order which is now in force came 

 into operation on .January 1, 1912, and during the course of 

 the year 2,871 outbreaks, with 6,074 animals attacked, were 

 reported. 



The term " mange " covers cases of skin disease which are 

 caused by minute animal parasites — the so-called acari, which 

 are nearly related to the common mites. Three different 

 species of acari are the cause of skin disease in horses, but 

 only two of them are brought under the new order, viz., 

 sarcoptic and psoroptic. 



The third, or symbiotic mange, has not been considered 

 suflBciently serious to merit its being scheduled as a contagious 

 disease. This last form of mange affects principally the skin 

 of the legs in horses, and although it causes considerable 

 itchiness it does not usually impair the working usefulness 

 or the general condition of the horse. 



The sarcoptic form of mange affects the skin of the head, 

 neck, and trunk, and the principal symptoms are persistent 

 scratching and rubbing, falling out of hair, and thickening of 

 the skin. Psoroptic mange may also affect the skin of the 

 body, but it is principally the mane and the tail which it 

 attacks. Both forms of the disease are highly contagious 

 when once introduced into a stable, but the sarcoptic form 

 is the more serious of the two because the acarus which is the 

 cause of it burrows into the substance of the skin, rendering 

 its destruction by skin dressings more difficult. 



Although the forms of mange scheduled under the order 

 are seldom or never fatal, their effects ai'e by no means 

 negligible, (1) because there is practically no such thing as 

 spontaneous recovery, and (2) because when the skin becomes 

 extensively affected, the worry to which the animal is subjected 

 by the itchiness interferes with its rest and generally leads to 

 a serious loss of condition. 



The order requires owners who suspect the existence of the 

 disease to give notice to a police officer, and when the diagnosis 



^ For further particulars see the ppecial article on Foot-aiid-Mouth Disease 

 in this Volume, page 90. 



